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Session 101 - The Sun.
Display session, Thursday, January 18
North Banquet Hall, Convention Center
We have seen significant progress in the flight preparation of the TRACE (Transition Region and Coronal Explorer) instrument during the last few months. TRACE, approved for 1997 launch, will collect images of solar plasmas at temperatures from 10^4 to 10^7 K, with one arc second spatial resolution and excellent temporal resolution and continuity. TRACE will explore the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and plasma structures in the coronal, transition zone and temperature minimum regions of the sun. The 1997 launch opportunity allows for collaborative observations from Earth orbit with the SoHO instruments stationed at L1. Simultaneous observations including high-resolution images, spectra, and magnetograms are possible. The 30 cm aperture TRACE telescope uses four normal-incidence coatings for the EUV and UV on quadrants of the primary and secondary mirrors. Interference filters further isolate 5 different UV bands. The images are coaligned and internally stabilized against spacecraft jitter. A 1024 x 1024 CCD detector collects images over an 8.5 x 8.5 arc minute field-of-view.
TRACE is launched on a GSFC SMEX spacecraft into a Sun-synchronous orbit. It will operate in coordination with the SoHO Experiment Operations Facility at GSFC. We are committed to maintaining an publicly accessible data base for TRACE data. Browsing and data set requesting capabilities will be included at our World Wide Web site (see http://www.space.lockheed.com/TRACE/welcome.html).
