Since the early 1990's we have witnessed an explosion of new telescopes,
new missions, and new technologies which has
opened the entire electromagnetic spectrum to exploration.
The result has been a flood of new data and discoveries
that shows no signs of abating. Among these discoveries are
the detection of planets beyond the solar system (1995), definitive
identification of brown dwarf stars, strong evidence for black holes,
and a front row view of the closest supernova explosion in 300
years (SN1987A).
Exploration of these new frontiers continues at what seems
to be an accelerating pace. Listed on this page are brief descriptions
of these new facilities for astronomical discovery, both those
recently "on-line" and those under development.
Missions or facilities highlighted in aqua are completed, those
in deep red are active, those in blue are under development.
GREAT OBSERVATORIES
| Compton Gamma Ray Observatory | CGRO | 1991-2000 | Gamma ray burst detection |
| Hubble Space Telescope | HST | 1990-current | Ultraviolet/optical/near-infrared high resolution imaging & spectra |
| Chandra X-ray Observatory | CXO | 1999-current | X-ray imaging |
| Solar Heliospheric Observatory (NASA/ESA) | SOHO | 1995-current | Ultraviolet/optical solar imaging |
| Spitzer Space Telescope | SIRTF | 2003-current | Infrared imaging & spectra |
| Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy | SOFIA | Operational 2005 | 2.5m airborne telescope, thermal infrared imaging & spectra |
| Gamma-Ray Large Area Telescope | GLAST | Feb 2007 launch | Follow on to Compton, gamma-ray imaging |
| James Webb Space Telescope | NGST | 2011 launch | Hubble follow-on, 6.5m telescope, designed for 1-20 micron imaging & spectra |
EXPLORER PROGRAM
| Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics | ASCA | 1993-2000 | X-ray spectroscopy |
| Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer | EUVE | 1992-2001 | Imaging & spectra from 20 to 90 nm |
| Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer | RXTE | 1995-current | High time resolution photometry of X-ray sources |
| Advanced Composition Explorer | ACE | 1997-current | Composition of solar and galactic cosmic rays |
| Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite | SWAS | 1998-current | Molecular spectroscopy between 400 and 600 microns |
| Transitional Region and Coronal Explorer | TRACE | 1998-current | High spatial resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere |
| Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer | FUSE | 1999-current | Spectroscopy between 90 and 120 nm |
| Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration | IMAGE | 2000-current | Imaging of Earth's geomagnetic environment |
| High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Explorer | HESSI | 2002-current | Physics of solar flares |
| Microwave Anisotropy Explorer | MAP | 2001-current | Cosmic microwave background mapping |
| Galaxy Evolution Explorer | GALEX | Launched April 2003 | Sky survey at 150 and 250 nm |
| Gravity Probe-B | GPB | April 2004 launch | Testing relativity using precision gyroscopes |
| Swift | SWIFT | July 2004 launch | Gamma-ray burst locator |
MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM
| Mars Observer | MO | 1992 | Orbiter, failed at Mars orbit insertion |
| Mars Patherfinder | MP | 1997 | First rover, technology testbed |
| Mars Global Surveyor | MGS | 1997-current | Orbiter, medium resolution surface imaging |
| Mars Climate Orbiter | MCO | 1999 | Orbiter, failed during Mars orbit insertion |
| Mars Polar Lander | MPL | 1999 | Lander, contact lost during landing attempt |
| 2001 Mars Odyssey | MO | Reached Mars October 2001 | Orbiter, geochemical surface mapping, search for water, thermal imaging |
| Mars 2003 Rovers | MER | Both landed January 2004 | Two surface rovers, geochemical analysis |
| Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter | MRO | 2005 launch | High resolution surface imaging |
| Phoenix | Phoenix | 2007 launch | Attempt to land in the Martian northern polar region |
OUTER PLANETS EXPLORATION PROGRAM
| Galileo | link | 1989-2003 | Orbiter, reached Jupiter December 1995 |
| Galileo Atmosphere Probe | 1995 | Entered Jupiter atmosphere, 07 December 1995 | |
| Cassini | link | 1997-current | Orbiter, arrives at Saturn, July 2004 |
| Huygens Probe | link | 2004 | Titan atmosphere probe |
| New Horizons | link | Under study, 2006 launch | Pluto + Kuiper Belt flyby |
| Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter | JIMO | 2012? | Redesigned mission, to use nuclear-electric propulsion. |
DISCOVERY PROGRAM
| Near Earth Asteroid Rendevouz | NEAR | 1996-2001 | First asteroid encounter, Feb 2000; landed Feb 2001 |
| Mars Pathfinder | link | 1997 | First Mars Rover |
| Lunar Prospector | link | 1998-1999 | Geochemical mapping, search for ice at poles |
| Stardust | link | 1999-current | Launched Feb 1999, comet Wild 2 encounter Jan 02, 2004, dust sample return in 2006 |
| Genesis | link | August 2001 launch | Solar wind sample return, Sept 2004 |
| Comet Nucleus Tour | Launched 15-Jul-02, failed during Earth escape | Flyby of 3 different short-period comets | |
| MESSENGER | link | May 2004 launch | First Mercury orbiter, arrival 2009 |
| Deep Impact | link | Dec 2004 launch | Selected 1999, on-board projectile to impact on comet Temple 1 July 2005 |
| Dawn | link | Planned May 2006 launch | Rendevous with asteroid Ceres & Vesta |
| Kepler | link | Planned 2006 launch | Search for extrasolar planets via transit photometry |
ESA MISSIONS
| Infrared Space Observatory | ISO | 1994-1998 | Thermal infrared imaging & spectra |
| X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission | XMM-Newton | 1999-current | X-ray imaging |
| Integral | link | 2002-current | Gamma-ray imaging & spectroscopy |
| Mars Express | link | Arrived Mars 25-Dec-2003 | Orbiter: atmospheric composition, surface mineralogy, subsurface water |
NSF AND OTHER GROUND-BASED FACILITIES
6-10 Meter Class Telescopes
| Keck Telescopes (U.Cal) | link | 1995-current | Twin segmented 10m telescopes, in Hawaii, optical/NIR deep imaging & spectra |
| Hobberly-Eberly Telescope (U.Texas+) | HET | 1999-current | 9m segmented mirror, in west Texas, optical/NIR spectroscopy |
| Very Large Telescope (ESA) | VLT | 1999-current | Four 8m telescopes, in Chile, optical/NIR imaging & spectra |
| Gemini (USA/NSF+) | link | 1999-current | Twin 8m telescopes, in Hawaii and Chile, optical/NIR imaging & spectra |
Radio Telescopes
| Very Large Array (NSF/USA) | VLA | 1980-current | 27 75m antennae, in New Mexico, cm-band imaging |
| Very Large Baseline Array (NSF/USA) | VLBA | 1993-current | 10 75m antennae, geographically distributed sites, cm-band high resolution imaging |
| Green Bank Telescope (NSF/USA) | GBT | 2000-current | 100m steerable dish, in West Virginia, mm-cm band spectroscopy |
| Atacama Large Millimeter Array (NSF/USA,UK,ESO+) | ALMA | 2005? | 64! 12-m antennas, in Chile, mm band imaging & spectroscopy |
Other Telescopes
| Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (NSF/USA) | LIGO | 2002- first science run | Gravitational wave detection, two sites, Hanford WA & Livingston, LA |
| Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (Canada) | SNO | 1999-current | Neutrino detector 6800ft underground in Sudbury, Ontario. |
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer is a NASA Goddard mission which was
launched on December 30th, 1995 and still operating. RXTE is designed
to look at cosmic X-ray sources at short timescales over a broad
energy range.
ASCA stands for Advanced Satellite For Cosmology and Astrophysics; it
is an X-ray spectroscopy mission operated jointly by the Japanese
space agency and NASA. ASCA is Japan's fourth X-ray astrophysics
mission. The satellite was successfully launched on February 20, 1993.
FUSE, the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, was orbited in
July 1999. Operated by the Johns Hopkins University, FUSE is
opening up the 900-1200 Angstrom spectral "window" for spectroscopic
investigations. FUSE observes these wavelengths with much greater
sensitivity and resolving power than previous instruments used to study
light in this wavelength range.
TRACE is the Transitional Region and Coronal Explorer, a NASA
Small Explorer class mission launched in 1998. TRACE enables solar
physicists to study the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and
the associated plasma structures on the Sun by observing the layers
of the solar atmosphere simulataneously.
MIDEX class mission, selected in 1999, with a 2003 flight date.
Designed to provide accurate real-time coordinates of GRBs with
greater sensitivity than Compton.
A mission of the European Space Agency, the Infrared Space Observatory,
Operated in the wavelength range 2.5 to 40 microns during the period
Nov 95 to May 98. ISO is sensitive to emission from dust in interstellar
space, and was used to probe star forming clouds in our own and other
galaxies.
The European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror telescope, a counterpart
to NASA's Chandra Observatory. Launched in December, 1999 -- first
images were obtained in Feb 2000. XMM is more sensitive than Chandra,
the latter provided higher spatial resolution.
Mission planned for 2001 launch dedicated to spectroscopy and
imaging of hard X-ray and gamma-ray sources in
the energy range 15 keV to 10 MeV.
Located atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii at 13,000 ft, the Keck Observatory
consists of two 10-meter segmented mirror telescopes-the world's largest
optical/near-IR telescopes. They were constructed in the late 1990s, and
are two of a about a dozen, 8-10 meter "next generation" telescopes.
The world's largest fully steerable radio telescope is now (2/00) under
construction at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's site
in Green Bank, West Virginia. The GBT will detect radio emissions from
galaxies, pulsars, and molecules in interstellar clouds among many
programs. First "light" is expected in the second half of 2000.
Arecibo Observatory is home to the world's largest "single-dish"
radiotelescope. Located in a bowl-shaped depression in Puerto
Rico, the Arecibo dish is 300 meters in diameter-- too large to
be pointable. Arecibo operates as a transit telescope, pointing
essentially straight up. In addition to its use as a giant
radio "ear", Arecibo is also used as a radar platform for bounce
signals off of objects in the solar system.