SOHO was launched by an Atlas II-AS (AC-121) from Cape Canaveral Air Station on December 2, 1995, at 08:08 UT.
Launch Images
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diagram of Atlas II-AS |
Launch Movies
- MPEG, short (1 MB)
- QuickTime (16 MB, Apple Video Compression [c. 1995])
- QuickTime (32 MB, 320 x 240, H.264)
- QuickTime (9 MB, H.264)
SOHO/ATLAS-IIAS KEY PARAMETERS
The launch vehicle for this mission was a two stage Atlas-IIAS
(Atlas/Centaur). At liftoff, the vehicle is approximately 47.4m long,
4m in diameter and weights 236 268 kg. The Atlas, consists of a solid
rocket booster stage powered by four Thiokol Castor IVA solid rocket
boosters and a core vehicle stage (booster and sustainer) powered
by Rocketdyne MA-5A liquid propellant engines (RP-1 fuel and liquid
oxygen). The multiple firing Centaur is powered by two Pratt and
Whitney (RL10A-4) liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen engines with
extendible nozzles. Vehicle guidance and range safety is mounted on the
Centaur stage.
The Centaur rocket body is 3.04 m in diameter, 9 m long and weight 1814
kg empty. SOHO is 3.65 m in height and 3.65 m in width and weights 610 kg at
separation from the Centaur rocket body. SOHO was placed into a halo
orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 libration point, approximately 1.5
million km sunward from the Earth.
DIMENSIONS
Launch vehicle height
47.40 m
Launch vehicle diameter
4.00 m
Launch vehicle weight
236 268 kg
PROPULSION
First stage
Atlas sustainer and 2 boosters and 4 Thiokol
Castor IVA solid rocket boosters
Second stage
Centaur (2 LO2/LH2 engines)
SOHO spacecraft
on-board hydrazine thrusters
