SOVIM (SolarVariability andIrradianceMonitor) instrument is based on an earlier instrument (SOVA) which flew aboard the European Retrievable Carrier, launched onSTS-46 in 1992.[4] It is designed to measuresolar radiation with wavelengths from 200 nanometers - 100 micrometers. This covers near-ultraviolet,visible andinfrared areas of the spectrum.
SOLSPEC (SolarSpectral irradiance measurements) is designed to measure the solar spectral irradiance in the 165- to 3000-nanometer range with high spectral resolution.
SOL-ACES (Auto-calibratingExtreme Ultraviolet and Ultraviolet spectrometers) consists of four grazing incidence gratingspectrometers. They are designed to measure the EUV/UV spectral regime (17 nanometers - 220 nanometers) with moderate spectral resolution.[5]
The mission was originally planned for a 2003 launch, but was delayed following theSpace Shuttle Columbia disaster.[citation needed] Some other components are also planned to be mounted externally on Columbus on future missions, including theAtomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES). Another name for SOLAR may be Solar Monitoring Observatory or SMO.
In 2012, the entire 450-tonne station was rotated so SOLAR could observe a fullrotation of the Sun continuously.[6] A Solar rotation takes about 24–28 days depending on the latitude.[7]
SOLAR's mission ended in 2017 with the failure of all but one of its instruments. On the morning of January 28, 2020 SOLAR was removed from FRAM 1 where it rested since it was delivered on STS 122 and strapped to the side ofCygnus NG-12 with theSDS placed on the other side. SOLAR was released from the station on February 3, 2020 and burnt up in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on March 13, 2020 ending the mission which spent a decade photographing the sun.[8]
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