Explorer 61

<p>Magsat (Magnetic field Satellite, Applications Explorer Mission-C or AEM-C or Explorer 61) was a <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> / <a href="/facts/United_States_Geological_Survey/nVaGtMjl">USGS</a> (United States Geological Survey) spacecraft, launched on 30 October 1979. The mission was to map the <a href="/facts/Earth%2527s_magnetic_field/73G36wmx">Earth's magnetic field</a>, the satellite had two <a href="/facts/Magnetometer/dqX9g1og">magnetometers</a>. The scalar (<a href="/facts/Caesium/dXKN1S5k">Cesium vapor</a>) and vector <a href="/facts/Magnetometer/dqX9g1og">magnetometers</a> gave Magsat a capability beyond that of any previous spacecraft. Extended by a telescoping boom, the magnetometers were distanced from the magnetic field created by the satellite and its <a href="/facts/Electronics/E4JhgISq">electronics</a>. The satellite carried two magnetometers, a three-axis fluxgate magnetometer for determining the strength and direction of magnetic fields, and an ion-vapor/vector magnetometer for determining the magnetic field caused by the vector magnetometer itself. Magsat is considered to be one of the more important Science/Earth-orbiting satellites launched; the data it accumulated is still being used, particularly in linking new satellite data to past observations.
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Explorer 61 open-in-new

Explorer 61