Back to Missions

Solar Mesosphere Explorer

The Solar Mesosphere Explorer was an Earth-orbiting spacecraft designed to investigate the processes that create and destroy ozone in the mesosphere. It returned atmospheric and solar measurements from its October 6, 1981 launch until April 4, 1989.

Follow this mission

Alerts are unavailable because this mission is no longer active.

Identity

Aliases
SMESolar Mesosphere ExplorerExplorer 64
Name
Solar Mesosphere Explorer
Status
completed

Details

Astronauts
-
Description
The Solar Mesosphere Explorer was an Earth-orbiting spacecraft designed to investigate the processes that create and destroy ozone in the mesosphere. It returned atmospheric and solar measurements from its October 6, 1981 launch until April 4, 1989.
Destination
Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at approximately 538–542 km altitude (about 97° inclination; 3 a.m.–3 p.m. local time)
End Date
1989-04-04
Launch Site
Programs
Start Date
1981-10-06
Vehicle Families

Links

Assets & Meta

Creation Time
August 14, 2026 at 17:00:49 UTC
Updated Time
August 21, 2026 at 10:24:55 UTC

Other

Affiliations
-
Space Stations
-
Vehicles