Student Nitric Oxide Explorer
The Student Nitric Oxide Explorer was a NASA-funded university-class mission designed, built, and operated by students, faculty, and engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Its ultraviolet spectrometer and photometers measured nitric oxide, auroral emissions, and solar soft X-rays to study how solar and magnetospheric energy changes Earth's lower thermosphere.
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Identity
- Aliases
- SNOE
- Name
- Student Nitric Oxide Explorer
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- The Student Nitric Oxide Explorer was a NASA-funded university-class mission designed, built, and operated by students, faculty, and engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Its ultraviolet spectrometer and photometers measured nitric oxide, auroral emissions, and solar soft X-rays to study how solar and magnetospheric energy changes Earth's lower thermosphere.
- Destination
- Circular low Earth orbit at approximately 580 km altitude and 97.75° inclination for measuring nitric oxide and solar-driven changes in Earth’s upper atmosphere
- End Date
- 2000-09-30
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- SNOE entered its planned Sun-synchronous orbit, returned science data from its first pass, and completed its campaign of nitric-oxide, auroral, and solar X-ray measurements on September 30, 2000. The spacecraft remained in orbit until its controlled monitoring through atmospheric reentry on December 13, 2003 also informed NASA orbital-debris procedures.
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1998-02-26
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/snoe/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 18, 2026 at 17:07:54 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 24, 2026 at 10:01:53 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Search Name
- Student Nitric Oxide Explorer SNOE
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles