SME
Solar Mesosphere Explorer
The Solar Mesosphere Explorer was an Earth-orbiting spacecraft designed to investigate the processes that create and destroy the ozone in Earth's upper atmosphere, or mesosphere.
Mission Statistics
Launch Date
Oct. 6, 1981
Type
OrbiterTarget
EarthStatus
PastAbout the mission
The Solar Mesosphere Explorer was an Earth-orbiting spacecraft designed to investigate the processes that create and destroy the ozone in Earth's upper atmosphere, or mesosphere. It returned data until April 4, 1989 and reentered Earth's atmosphere nearly a year later.
Instruments
- Infrared radiometer
- Visible nitrogen dioxide
- Solar ultraviolet monitor
- Solar proton alarm detector