Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Wind (spacecraft)
open-in-new
<p>The <a href="/facts/Global_Geospace_Science/0wYoX6lN">Global Geospace Science</a> (GGS) <i>Wind</i> satellite is a <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> science spacecraft designed to study radio waves and plasma that occur in the <a href="/facts/Solar_wind/BvuB3dT8">solar wind</a> and in the Earth's <a href="/facts/Magnetosphere/BXzgPoPy">magnetosphere</a>. It was launched on 1 November 1994, at 09:31:00 <a href="/facts/Coordinated_Universal_Time/2EnjfSyu">UTC</a>, from launch pad LC-17B at <a href="/facts/Cape_Canaveral_Space_Force_Station/dwJ9MCPH">Cape Canaveral Air Force Station</a> (CCAFS) in <a href="/facts/Merritt_Island%2c_Florida/xT3Takm3">Merritt Island, Florida</a>, aboard a <a href="/facts/McDonnell_Douglas/cplglcRH">McDonnell Douglas</a> <a href="/facts/Delta_II/GoBa3Qch">Delta II</a> 7925-10 rocket. <i>Wind</i> was designed and manufactured by <a href="/facts/Martin_Marietta/IBhkluIr">Martin Marietta</a> Astro Space Division in <a href="/facts/East_Windsor_Township%2c_New_Jersey/CfVKl6dS">East Windsor Township, New Jersey</a>. The satellite is a <a href="/facts/Spin_stabilization/UaqG0BqR">spin-stabilized</a> cylindrical satellite with a diameter of 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) and a height of 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in). </p><p>The spacecraft's original mission was to orbit the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">Sun</a> at the <a href="/facts/Lagrange_point/XCAN4o3P">L1</a> <a href="/facts/Lagrangian_point/XCAN4o3P">Lagrangian point</a>, but this was delayed to study the magnetosphere and near lunar environment when the <a href="/facts/Solar_and_Heliospheric_Observatory/vxkoDFAh">Solar and Heliospheric Observatory</a> (SOHO) and <a href="/facts/Advanced_Composition_Explorer/LyrvNMgF">Advanced Composition Explorer</a> (ACE) spacecraft were sent to the same location. <i>Wind</i> has been at <a href="/facts/Lagrange_point/XCAN4o3P">L1</a> continuously since May 2004, and is still operating as of 2024. As of 2024, <i>Wind</i> currently has enough fuel to last over 50 more years at <a href="/facts/Lagrange_point/XCAN4o3P">L1</a>, until at least 2075. <i>Wind</i> continues to collect data, and by the end of 2024 had contributed data to over 7,850 scientific publications. </p><p>Mission operations are conducted from the Multi-Mission Operations Center (MMOC) in Building 14 at <a href="/facts/Goddard_Space_Flight_Center/WfoEKknM">Goddard Space Flight Center</a> in <a href="/facts/Greenbelt%2c_Maryland/x56geTIz">Greenbelt, Maryland</a>. <i>Wind</i> data can be accessed using the <a href="/facts/SPEDAS/FS5lV7Cm">SPEDAS</a> software. <i>Wind</i> is the sister ship to <a href="/facts/Polar_(satellite)/kfz0vBVx">GGS <i>Polar</i></a>. </p>