Intercosmos 26

Intercosmos 26 was launched on March 2, 1994, to conduct comprehensive investigations of the Sun under the Coronas-I international project. CORONAS is short for Complex ORbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity of the Sun. The cooperative project involved specialists from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, France, and the United Kingdom. The rocket used was a Tsyklon-3 (R-36 11K68) launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 32 (LC-32) by the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA). The satellite had a mass of 2,160 kg. Orbital characteristics were perigee 501 km, apogee 541 km, inclination 82.5°. The orbital period was 94.7 min. Alternate designations are AUOS-SM-KI, Koronas-I, 23019, and 1994-14A. Coronas-I reentered Earth's atmosphere on March 4, 2001.

Instruments

Of the 12 instruments, Coronas-I carried a RES-K X-ray Spectroheliograph, the Helikon gamma-ray detector, and the SUVR-SP-C ultraviolet radiometer. Coronas-I may have had a Konus-RF X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometer, a BRM X-ray detector, an RT-2 gamma-ray telescope, and the FOKA UV detector on board.

Scientific accomplishments

Solar X-ray flares were a target of Coronas-I.

See also

X-ray astronomy

External links

AUOS science platform http://www.russianspaceweb.com/auos.html