Program: STEDI. Objective: Technology. The small STEDI (Student Explorer Demonstration Initiative) program was also known as the University Explorer (UNEX) series. First launch was the HETE astronomy satellite built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This was followed by SNOE, the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer, built by the University of Colorado.
Major Events: - 1996 November 4 - HETE. Spacecraft: HETE. Launch Site: Wallops Island DZ. Launch Vehicle: Pegasus.
The High Energy Transient Experiment (HETE) was an international mission led by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Its prime objective was to carry out the first multiwavelength study of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) with UV, X-ray, and gamma ray instruments. A unique feature of the mission was its capability to localise bursts with several arcsecond accuracy, in near real-time aboard the spacecraft. These positions were to be transmitted to the ground, and picked up by a global network of primary and secondary ground stations (SGS), enabling sensitive follow-up studies. However the satellite was never released from its payload fitting. Although signals were received, the solar panels could not deploy, and it went silent after a few days when its batteries ran down.
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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.
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