Solar Maximum Mission Program
NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission Program was a solar observatory launched on 14 February 1980 to study solar flares and high-energy solar activity. After an attitude-control failure, the spacecraft was captured and repaired by Space Shuttle Challenger’s STS-41C crew in April 1984, demonstrating the first major in-orbit satellite servicing mission; it continued productive observations before reentering Earth’s atmosphere on 2 December 1989.
Identity
- Aliases
- Solar Maximum MissionSolar MaxSMMSolar Maximum Observatory
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Name
- Solar Maximum Mission Program
- Status
- completed
- Types
- scienceresearchoperationsdevelopment
Details
- Description
- NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission Program was a solar observatory launched on 14 February 1980 to study solar flares and high-energy solar activity. After an attitude-control failure, the spacecraft was captured and repaired by Space Shuttle Challenger’s STS-41C crew in April 1984, demonstrating the first major in-orbit satellite servicing mission; it continued productive observations before reentering Earth’s atmosphere on 2 December 1989.
- End Date
- 1989-12-02
- Leads
- Participants
- -
- Start Date
- 1980-02-14
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 13, 2026 at 14:42:13 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 13, 2026 at 14:42:13 UTC
Other
- Official Urls
- https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/solarmax.htmlhttps://www.nasa.gov/history/40-years-ago-sts-41c-the-solar-max-repair-mission/https://www.nasa.gov/technology/astronauts-robots-and-the-history-of-fixing-and-building-things-in-space/https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/sts-41c-press-kit.pdf