New HESSI Spacecraft to Steal Secrets of Solar Flares

NASA's High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI), scheduled for a NET Feb. 1 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., will study solar flares - gigantic explosions in the atmosphere of the Sun - with unique kind of X-ray vision. The spacecraft's sole instrument, an imaging spectrometer, will construct flare images from patterns of light and shadows, which are produced by high-energy radiation passing through the telescope's grids as the spacecraft rotates. This new approach will provide scientists with the first high-fidelity color movies of solar flares in their highest energy emissions - X-rays and Gamma rays. Using HESSI's unique imaging method, scientists plan to gather data on thousands of flares during the planned two- to three-year mission.

Working together with other solar spacecraft such as Yohkoh, SOHO, GOES, TRACE, Wind, ACE, Ulysses and Voyager, HESSI will provide vital insight into the impulsive energy release and particle acceleration processes occurring at the Sun.

HESSI mission costs of $85 million include the spacecraft, expendable launch vehicle, and mission operations and data analysis. Goddard's Explorers Program Office provides mission management and technical oversight for this mission. The University of California, Berkeley, is the principal investigator institution, responsible for many aspects of the mission including instrument and spacecraft development, missions operations and data analysis for NASA.

For more information on the HESSI project, go to: http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/hessi/