Search:

[Advanced Search]



ACTIVE MISSIONS
   AGILE
   Chandra
   Fermi
   INTEGRAL
   MAXI
   NuSTAR
   Suzaku
   Swift
   XMM-Newton
PAST MISSIONS
   ANS    ARIEL V
   ASCA    BBXRT
   BeppoSAX    CGRO
   COPERNICUS    COS-B
   DXS    EINSTEIN
   EUVE    EXOSAT
   GINGA    GRANAT
   HAKUCHO    HEAO-1
   HEAO-3    HETE-2
   OSO-7    OSO-8
   ROSAT    Rossi XTE
   SAS-2    SAS-3
   TENMA    UHURU
   VELA 5B  

The Small Astronomy Satellite 2 (SAS-2)

photo of SAS-2
The second NASA Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS-2) was dedicated to gamma-ray astronomy in the energy range above 35 MeV. SAS-2 was launched on 1972 November 15 and began operations on 1972 November 19. On 1973 June 8, a failure of the low-voltage power supply ended the collection of data.

Mission Characteristics

* Lifetime : 19 November 1972 - 8 June 1973
* Energy Range : 20 MeV - 1 GeV
* Payload :
  • 32-level wire spark-chamber aligned with satellite spin axis (20 MeV-1 GeV), eff. area 540 cm2
* Science Highlights:
  • The first detailed look at the gamma-ray sky.
  • Established the high energy component of diffuse celestial radiation.
  • Correlated the gamma-ray background with galactic structural features.
* Archive : Raw data, image and exposure maps
[About SAS-2] [Archive] [Gallery] [Publications]

HEASARC Home | Observatories | Archive | Calibration | Software | Tools | Students/Teachers/Public
Last modified: Thursday, 26-Jun-2003 13:48:54 EDT