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FAST Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer spacecraft

NASA's second Small Explorer, FAST was launched on 21 August 1996 into a highly inclined elliptical orbit to investigate auroral acceleration and plasma microphysics with high-resolution electric and magnetic-field sensors and particle instruments. Science acquisition ended after orbit 51315 on 30 April 2009.

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Identity

Aliases
FASTFast Auroral Snapshot ExplorerFAST SMEXFast Auroral Snapshot
Family Name
FAST
Full Name
FAST Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer spacecraft
Roles
orbiterobservatoryresearch
Status
retired
Type
spacecraft

Details

Description
NASA's second Small Explorer, FAST was launched on 21 August 1996 into a highly inclined elliptical orbit to investigate auroral acceleration and plasma microphysics with high-resolution electric and magnetic-field sensors and particle instruments. Science acquisition ended after orbit 51315 on 30 April 2009.
First Flight Year
1,996
Last Flight Year
2,009

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Creation Time
August 13, 2026 at 13:44:24 UTC
Updated Time
August 13, 2026 at 13:44:24 UTC