Thirty years ago today — February 14, 1980 — a Delta rocket out of Cape Canaveral launched the Solar Maximum Mission to study the Sun during the peak of the 11-year solar cycle.
(The SMM spacecraft in orbit. NASA image.)
The SMM satellite malfunctioned in January 1981, but in April 1984 it was recovered by the space shuttle Challenger and serviced in orbit. After it was released, it continued functioning until it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere in December 1989.
(The SMM satellite being repaired in the shuttle cargo bay. NASA image.)
And 10 years ago, on Valentine’s Day 2000, the NEAR spacecraft — Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, also known as “NEAR Shoemaker” in honor of astronomer Eugene Shoemaker — entered orbit around the asteroid Eros. NEAR studied Eros for a year before landing on the asteroid in February 2001.
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