SRC in Megascience Projects - 2001

Interball
The INTERBALL-1 mission with the MAGION-4 subsatellite was launched in August 1995 and the mission INTERBALL-2 with MAGION 5 was lofted in August 1996. Their objective is to investigate dynamical processes in the polar, auroral, and tail region of the terrestrial magnetosphere as well as on its boundary. Among many experiments for simultaneous measurements of charged particles and plasma turbulence there were SRC-developed instruments. The first mission has plasma waves spectrometers (ASPI) and the other one carries the POLRAD analyser for measurements of the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) of the Earth, and the KRF collimator which is part of an X-ray photometer.   more

Cassini
The goal of a joint NASA/ESA mission Cassini is to extensively study the Saturn system and its largest moon Titan. The mission was launched on October 15, 1997 and after gravity-assist flybys of Venus, Earth, and Jupiter (correspondingly on April 26 and June 24, 1999, August 18, 1999, and December 30, 2000) it will arrive at Saturn on August 1, 2004 to become its satellite. In January 2005 a HUYGENS probe will be dropped from the satellite to settle on Titan's surface. SRC participates in the mission.    more

Coronas-F
The satellite was launched on a circular (500 km), polar orbit (inclination 82.5o). The scientific goal of the mission is to study dynamical processes of solar activity (active regions, flares, particle injections) in a broad electromagnetic and energetic spectrum. The science instruments (total mass 395 kg) include X-ray high-resolution spectrophotometers for studies of active regions and particle energy spectrometer for solar particles.    more

Integral
A cornerstone ESA mission INTEGRAL (INTErnational Gamma RAy Laboratory), intended to study gamma radiation in space, has been developed for several years now. The Space Research Centre participates in the effort, developing some instruments and software for the mission. They include VEB (Veto Electronics Box) unit for the gamma ray telescope IBIS, a ground data processing package for IBIS, an electronic ground support equipment (EGSE) for the X-ray monitor JEM-X, a software packet for the on-board digital processing equipment (DPE) of the JEM-X experiment, and a control and calibration package for the SPI gamma spectrometer.    more

ROSETTA
ROSETTA is a European Space Agency mission to Comet Wirtanen. The launch is scheduled for January 2003 and in 2012 the ROSETTA space probe will become a satellite of the cometary nucleus and drop a lander on its surface. The Space Research Centre participates in the experiments MUPUS, involving a penetrator of the cometary nucleus, and VIRTIS, to monitor the surface and atmosphere of the nucleus in the visual and infrared range.   more

Mars-Express
The MARS EXPRESS mission, scheduled by ESA for launch in 2003, will look for subsurface structures of the planet and study its surface and atmosphere. The Space Research Centre PAS participates in developing the PFS (Planetary Fourier Spectrometer) experiment to determine the chemical composition of the surface and the atmosphere of Mars.    more

Project Demeter
DEMETER is a project of low altitude microsatellite that mainly aim the study of electromagnetic signals in the ionosphere related to seismic or volcanic events. Its launching is expected for beginning of 2004. It will be the first mission of the CNES microsatellite issue.   more

Herschel
The goal of the ESA cornerstone mission Herschel is understanding the connection between formation of stars and planetary systems with interstellar clouds and interstellar medium. To that end, extensive observations of interstellar molecular clouds and dust in the far infrared and submilimeter range are needed. The participants of the project include the Nicolas Copernicus Astronomical Center PAS and the Space Research Centre PAS. The spacecraft, whose launch is scheduled for 2007, will be located in the so-called Lagrange point L2 and will observe in the spectral range from 100 to 600 micrometers, a spectral window at the boundary between infrared and radio frequencies that has never been covered by astronomical observations till now.    more

The Astrogeodynamical Observatory in Borowiec
The Observatory is involved in the following projects:
- laser tracking of satellites, - positioning measurements with the use of GPS technology in global geodynamic programs,
- satellite synchronisation of time and development of measurement technologies,
- comparison of atomic clocks at large distances with the use of GPS technology and laser range finder.    more