Astron (spacecraft)
{{Short description|Soviet ultraviolet space telescope (1983–1991)}}
{{Infobox spaceflight |auto=all
| name = Astron
| image = Astron.gif
| image_caption = Diagram of the Astron observatory
| image_alt =
| image_size = 300px
| mission_type = Astrophysics
| operator = Soviet space program
CNES
| COSPAR_ID = 1983-020A
| SATCAT = 13901
| website =
| mission_duration = {{time interval|23 Mar 1983|23 Mar 1991|sep=,}}
| manufacturer = NPO Lavochkin
| spacecraft_bus = 4MV
| launch_mass = {{cvt|3250|kg|lb}}
| dimensions =
| power =
| launch_date = {{start-date|23 March 1983 12:45}} UTC
| launch_rocket = Proton-K/D-1
| launch_site = Baikonur 200/39
| disposal_type = Decommissioned
| deactivated = 23 March 1991
| last_contact =
| decay_date =
| orbit_reference = High Earth
| orbit_semimajor = {{cvt|108531|km|mi}}
| orbit_eccentricity = 0.6575927
| orbit_periapsis = {{cvt|30791|km|mi}}
| orbit_apoapsis = {{cvt|173530.2|km|mi}}
| orbit_period = 5,930.5 minutes
| orbit_RAAN =
| orbit_arg_periapsis =
| orbit_mean_anomaly =
| orbit_mean_motion = 0.24281115 rev/day
| orbit_velocity =
| orbit_epoch = 19 July 2017 07:25:15 UTC
| orbit_rev_number =
| apsis = gee
| telescope_type =
| telescope_area = {{convert|0.17|m2|abbr=on}}
| telescope_wavelength = X-ray: 2–25 keV
Ultraviolet: 150–350 nm
}}
Astron was a Soviet space telescope launched on 23 March 1983 at 12:45:06 UTC, using the Proton-K rocket. Based on the 4MV spacecraft design and operational for six years, Astron was the largest ultraviolet space telescope of its time.
The project was headed by Alexandr Boyarchuk.{{r|Boyarchuk1|Boyarchuk2|Boyarchuk_1994}} The spacecraft was designed and constructed by the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and NPO Lavochkin. A group of scientists from these institutions was awarded the USSR State Prize for their work.
The payload consisted of an 80 cm ultraviolet telescope, which was jointly designed by the USSR and France, and an X-ray spectroscope. It could take UV spectra 150-350 nm.
Placed into an orbit with an apogee of {{Convert|185000|km}}, Astron was capable of making observations outside the Earth's umbra and radiation belt.
Among the most important observations made by Astron were those of SN 1987A supernova from March 4 to March 12, 1987, and of Halley's Comet in December 1985, the latter of which enabled a group of Soviet scientists to develop a model of the comet's coma.
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
- Granat - a later space observatory based on the Venera spacecraft bus
References
{{reflist|refs=
| author1= Mark Wade
| title= Astron
| encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Astronautica
| url= http://www.astronautix.com/a/astron.html
| access-date= 25 October 2024 }}
| title= Spektr-UF Project History
| url= http://www.inasan.rssi.ru/rus/WSO/history.html
| language= ru
| archive-date= 6 March 2005
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050306022229/http://www.inasan.rssi.ru/rus/WSO/history.html
| url-status= dead }}
| title= Alexander Boyarchuk
| url= http://mirslovarei.com/content_bes/Bojarchuk-8125.html
| language= ru
| access-date= 23 August 2009
| archive-date= 30 September 2007
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155804/http://mirslovarei.com/content_bes/Bojarchuk-8125.html
| url-status= dead }}
| author1= A. A. Boyarchuk
| author2= V. P. Grinin
| author3= A. M. Zvereva
| author4= P. P. Petrov
| author5= A. I. Sheikhet
| title= A model for the coma of Comet Halley, based on the Astron ultraviolet spectrophotometry
| journal= Pis'ma v Astronomicheskii Zhurnal
| year= 1986
| volume= 12
| pages= 696–706
| bibcode = 1986PAZh...12..696B
| language= ru }}
| author1= A. A. Boyarchuk
| author2= R. E. Gershberg
| author3= A. M. Zvereva
| author4= P. P. Petrov
| author5= A. B. Severnyj
| author6= A. V. Terebizh
| author7= C. T. Hua
| author8= A. I. Sheikhet
| display-authors= 5
| title= Observations on Astron: Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud
| journal= Pis'ma v Astronomicheskii Zhurnal
| year= 1987
| volume= 13
| pages= 739–743
| bibcode= 1987PAZh...13..739B
| language= ru }}
| author1= A. A. Boyarchuk
| script-title= ru:Астрофизические исследdeaования на космической станции "Астрон"
| trans-title= Astrophysical research on the Astron space telescope
| publisher=Nauka
| location= Moscow, Russia
| language= ru
| year= 1994 }}
| author1= T. S. Kelso
| title= Astron (TLE)
| url= http://celestrak.com/cgi-bin/TLE.pl?CATNR=13901
| website= CelesTrak.org
| access-date= 19 July 2017 }}
| title= Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
| url= http://www.crimea-portal.gov.ua/index.php?&art=1107
| language= ru
| access-date= 23 August 2009
| archive-date= 27 September 2007
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191435/http://www.crimea-portal.gov.ua/index.php?&art=1107
| url-status= dead }}
| url= https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/derived/launchlog.html
| title= Launch Log
| author1= Jonathan McDowell
| work= Jonathan's Space Page
| access-date= 23 August 2009 }}
| title= ASTRON
| url= http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=13901
| website= N2YO.com
| access-date= 25 October 2024 }}
| title= The Astron Satellite
| url= http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/astron.html
| date= 26 June 2003
| access-date= 23 August 2009
| archive-date= 26 August 2009
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090826100025/http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/astron.html
| url-status= live }}
| author1= Gunter D. Krebs
| title= Astron 1
| website= Gunter's Space Page
| url= https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/astron.htm
| access-date= 25 October 2024 }}
| author1= B. Harvey
| author2= O. Zakutnyaya
| title= Russian Space Probes: Scientific Discoveries and Future Missions
| publisher= Springer Praxis
| date= 2011
| pages= 376–380
| isbn= 978-1-441-98149-3 }}
}}
{{Space observatories}}
{{Russian space program}}
{{Orbital launches in 1983}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astron (Spacecraft)}}
Category:Ultraviolet telescopes
Category:Soviet space observatories