Solar Maximum Mission
An artist's conception of the SMM spacecraft. (Credit: NASA)
Lifetime: February 1980 - December 1989
Country (primary): United States
Primary Science
The Solar Maximum Mission, or SMM for short, was launched to study the sun during the high part of the solar cycle.
High Energy Science
Two of the instruments on SMM were able to detect cosmic gamma-ray bursts in addition to solar observations.
Science Highlights
- Detected more than 75 gamma-ray bursts