The purpose of the Solar Mesosphere Explorer mission was to investigate the processes that create and destroy ozone in Earth's upper atmosphere. The mesosphere is a layer of the atmosphere extending from the top of the stratosphere to an altitude of about 80 kilometers (50 miles).
Launched on a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, the satellite sent data to Earth until April 4, 1989. The spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere on March 5, 1991.
Managed for NASA by JPL, Solar Mesosphere Explorer was built by Ball Space Systems and operated by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics of the University of Colorado.
Mass: 437 kilograms (963 pounds)
Configuration: Cylinder 1.25 meter (4.1 feet) diameter by 1.7 meter (5.6 feet) high
Science instruments: Ultraviolet ozone spectrometer, 1.27-micron spectrometer, nitrogen dioxide spectrometer, four-channel infrared radiometer, solar ultraviolet monitor, solar proton alarm detector
Launch: October 6, 1981
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