183
To return to ISOPHOT-S, the IAC designed, built, and optoelectronically
calibrated the instrument’s various prototypes that would go to form part of
the flight models and replacement parts of the experiment. It should be
underlined that calibration in the 2.5–12-μm range had never been done
before in our country. We learned much and surmounted endless difficulties,
not the least of which was obtaining funding.
For its simplicity and robustness, ESA considered our ISOPHOT-S a key
instrument for the mission, and one of its prototypes is exhibited at the
Munich Science Museum. ISO was launched in 1995 on an Ariane 44P rocket
from Kourou, and the mission was a complete success. Its data still continue
to be used by researchers today. The satellite fell silent when its helium coolant
ran out in 1998.
The Spanish research institutes and companies that participated in the
experiment gained knowledge and kudos that have enabled them to be incorporated with greater ease into subsequent space missions.
Shortly after, the IAC became involved in further space projects, a case in
point being the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission, whose
objective was to observe above earth’s the atmosphere in order to tackle problems concerning the internal structure of the sun, its chromosphere and
corona, and other aspects of the heliosphere and cosmic plasma. This satellite
was a joint project of ESA and NASA.
As with ISO, we based our decision to become involved on our previous
scientific and technical experience in solar studies through well-established
collaborations with leading institutions in the subject. When the University
of Birmingham expressed its interest in setting up its new instruments at Teide
Observatory, we followed our normal procedure of sending a promising
young student to Birmingham. The student’s name was Teodoro Roca, who
would become our leading expert in the new technique of resonant scattering.
The new instruments were installed at our Observatory. The new discipline of
helioseismology was begun, and the IAC was present at its birth.
Helioseismology is a technique that allows us to measure, with great precision, the periods and amplitudes of solar oscillations. These are caused by
pressure waves that break out on the sun’s surface, their amplitudes being
magnified by constructive interference, in the same way that pressure waves
produced by seismic events occur on Earth. Through these oscillations we are
able to discover the structure of the interiors of both bodies. Just as the study
of such waves inside our planet is known as seismology, so for the sun it has
been dubbed helioseimology.
Of the eleven instruments carried on board SOHO, we were involved in a
limited way with only two. One of them was the Global Oscillations at Low
18 The Rise of Space Astrophysics in Spain (1942–Present)
To return to ISOPHOT-S, the IAC designed, built, and optoelectronically
calibrated the instrument’s various prototypes that would go to form part of
the flight models and replacement parts of the experiment. It should be
underlined that calibration in the 2.5–12-μm range had never been done
before in our country. We learned much and surmounted endless difficulties,
not the least of which was obtaining funding.
For its simplicity and robustness, ESA considered our ISOPHOT-S a key
instrument for the mission, and one of its prototypes is exhibited at the
Munich Science Museum. ISO was launched in 1995 on an Ariane 44P rocket
from Kourou, and the mission was a complete success. Its data still continue
to be used by researchers today. The satellite fell silent when its helium coolant
ran out in 1998.
The Spanish research institutes and companies that participated in the
experiment gained knowledge and kudos that have enabled them to be incorporated with greater ease into subsequent space missions.
Shortly after, the IAC became involved in further space projects, a case in
point being the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission, whose
objective was to observe above earth’s the atmosphere in order to tackle problems concerning the internal structure of the sun, its chromosphere and
corona, and other aspects of the heliosphere and cosmic plasma. This satellite
was a joint project of ESA and NASA.
As with ISO, we based our decision to become involved on our previous
scientific and technical experience in solar studies through well-established
collaborations with leading institutions in the subject. When the University
of Birmingham expressed its interest in setting up its new instruments at Teide
Observatory, we followed our normal procedure of sending a promising
young student to Birmingham. The student’s name was Teodoro Roca, who
would become our leading expert in the new technique of resonant scattering.
The new instruments were installed at our Observatory. The new discipline of
helioseismology was begun, and the IAC was present at its birth.
Helioseismology is a technique that allows us to measure, with great precision, the periods and amplitudes of solar oscillations. These are caused by
pressure waves that break out on the sun’s surface, their amplitudes being
magnified by constructive interference, in the same way that pressure waves
produced by seismic events occur on Earth. Through these oscillations we are
able to discover the structure of the interiors of both bodies. Just as the study
of such waves inside our planet is known as seismology, so for the sun it has
been dubbed helioseimology.
Of the eleven instruments carried on board SOHO, we were involved in a
limited way with only two. One of them was the Global Oscillations at Low
18 The Rise of Space Astrophysics in Spain (1942–Present)