HEAO-1 Program

NASA’s HEAO-1 Program was the first High Energy Astronomy Observatory mission, launched on 12 August 1977 and operated until 9 January 1979. It surveyed the X-ray sky almost three times across 0.2 keV–10 MeV, continuously monitored sources near the ecliptic poles, and produced a complete flux-limited high-galactic-latitude survey, X-ray background measurements, and comprehensive source catalogs.

Identity

Aliases: HEAO-1High Energy Astronomy Observatory-1High Energy Astrophysics Observatory-1HEAO 1
Domains: spaceflight
Name: HEAO-1 Program
Status: completed
Types: scienceresearchoperationsdevelopment

Details

Description: NASA’s HEAO-1 Program was the first High Energy Astronomy Observatory mission, launched on 12 August 1977 and operated until 9 January 1979. It surveyed the X-ray sky almost three times across 0.2 keV–10 MeV, continuously monitored sources near the ecliptic poles, and produced a complete flux-limited high-galactic-latitude survey, X-ray background measurements, and comprehensive source catalogs.
End Date: 1979-01-09
Leads
Parent Program
Participants: -
Start Date: 1977-08-12

Assets & Meta

Creation Time: August 13, 2026 at 15:05:14 UTC
Updated Time: August 13, 2026 at 15:05:14 UTC

Other

Official Urls: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heao1/heao1.htmlhttps://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/observatories/history/missions/heao.html