Transition Region And Coronal Explorer
Also known as TRACE, Explorer 73, SMEX-4
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE, or Explorer 73, SMEX-4) was a NASA heliophysics and solar observatory designed to investigate the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and the associated plasma structures on the Sun by providing high-resolution images and observation of the solar photosphere, the transition region, and the solar corona. A main focus of the TRACE instrument was the fine structure of coronal loops low in the solar atmosphere. TRACE was the third spacecraft in the Small Explorer program, launched on 2 April 1998, and obtained its last science image on 21 J
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- Transition Region and Coronal Explorer
- Spaceflight.names_list
- Explorer-73SMEX-4TRACE
- Spaceflight.image
- 506998main TRACE artist rendition.jpg
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Heliophysics
- Spaceflight.operator
- NASAGSFC
- Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID
- 1998-020A
- Spaceflight.SATCAT
- 25280
- Spaceflight.website
- TRACE
- Spaceflight.mission_duration
- 1 year (planned) (achieved)
- Spaceflight.spacecraft
- Explorer LXXIII
- Spaceflight.spacecraft_type
- Transition Region and Coronal Explorer
- Spaceflight.spacecraft_bus
- TRACE
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Mission
- Spacecraft
- Experiment
- TRACE Imaging Telescope
- Image gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE, or Explorer 73, SMEX-4) was a NASA heliophysics and solar observatory designed to investigate the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and the associated plasma structures on the Sun by providing high-resolution images and observation of the solar photosphere, the transition region, and the solar corona. A main focus of the TRACE instrument was the fine structure of coronal loops low in the solar atmosphere. TRACE was the third spacecraft in the Small Explorer program, launched on 2 April 1998, and obtained its last science image on 21 June 2010, at 23:56 UTC. It reentered the atmosphere 600 km south of Perth, Australia on 18 July 2025, at 11:37 UTC.
== Mission == The Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) was a NASA small explorer mission designed to examine the three-dimensional magnetic structures which emerge through the Sun's photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun) and define both the geometry and dynamics of the upper solar atmosphere (the transition region and corona). Its primary science objectives were to: (1) follow the evolution of magnetic field structures from the solar interior to the corona; (2) investigate the mechanisms of the heating of the outer solar atmosphere; and, (3) determine the triggers and onset of solar flares and mass ejections.