WIND (spacecraft)
The Global Geospace Science (GGS) WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Merritt Island, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket. WIND was designed and manufactured by Martin Marietta Astro Space Division in East Windsor, New Jersey. The satellite is a spin stabilized cylindrical satellite with a diameter of 2.4 m and a height of 1.8 m.
It was deployed to study radio and plasma that occur in the solar wind and in the Earth's magnetosphere before the solar wind reaches the Earth. The spacecraft's original mission was to orbit the Sun at the L1 Lagrangian point, but this was delayed when the SOHO and ACE spacecraft were sent to the same location. WIND has been at L1 continuously since 2004, and is still operating as of December 2012. WIND currently has enough fuel to last roughly 60 years at L1. WIND continues to produce relevant research as its data has contributed to over 800 publications since 2008 and nearly 2000 publications prior to 2008. As of December 10, 2012, the total number of publications either directly or indirectly using Wind data is ~2795 .
Mission operations are conducted from the Multi-Mission Operations Center (MMOC) in Building 14 at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
WIND is the sister ship to GGS Polar.
Read more about WIND (spacecraft): The Science Objectives of The WIND Mission, The Science Instruments On The WIND Spacecraft, Some Discoveries And/or Contributions To Science By The WIND Spacecraft, List of Refereed Publications For Wind, Other Names
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