SPACE.com -- Scientists petitioning NASA and the U.S. Congress have failed to save the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE).

False-color image of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant. Click to enlarge. Credit: UC Berkeley.

Vela supernova remnant shown in false-color. Click to enlarge.

Entire celestial sky, as it appears in the extreme ultraviolet and created by combining multiple EUVE scans. Click to enlarge.

NASA to Pull Plug On Astronomy Satellite


	Scientists petitioning NASA and the U.S. Congress have failed to save the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE). By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 05:00 pm ET 01 November 2000

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WASHINGTON -- So long...it's been good to know you. Scientists petitioning NASA and the U.S. Congress have failed to save the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE).

The astronomical observatory -- designed to be space-shuttle serviceable and retrievable -- is headed for doom. It will plunge to Earth between late 2001 or early-to-mid 2002.

Comet Hyakutake through the ultraviolet eyes of the EUVE satellite.

"Unfortunately we were unable to mobilize sufficient support to obtain Congressional help," said Roger Malina, EUVE director, at the University of California, Berkeley. "As a result, EUVE will shortly terminate operations," he said in a "Dear EUVE colleagues" letter distributed Thursday.

Healthy but terminated

The astronomical eye-in-the sky spacecraft continues to operate flawlessly. The EUVE has produced a steady stream of data since its launch in July 1992. But a steady-stream of money, about a $1 million per year, could not be found to keep spacecraft operations going.

Malina pointed out that the EUVE detected an enormous flare earlier this week. The source was among the brightest EUVE had ever detected.

"It will be decades before astronomers have access to the extreme-ultraviolet band. The unobservable ultraviolet will soon be unobservable again!" Malina said.

Extreme ultraviolet is a form of light that falls between X-rays and ultraviolet radiation. Material heated to 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit (111,093 degrees Celsius) emits extreme ultraviolet radiation. This type of radiation cannot be detected by the human eye.

Senior review panel

NASA is expected to announce the demise of EUVE shortly.

"The fact of the matter is that EUVE operated for eight years. That is more than twice its planned lifetime," said Dolores Beasley, a NASA spokeswoman.

"The decision to end the mission was based on findings from a senior scientific review panel. EUVE did indeed open a new window on the universe by letting us observe extreme-ultraviolet light. But yes, the decision has been made," Beasley told SPACE.com.

Funding to close out the project runs through December, Beasley said. A NASA statement regarding the reentry of EUVE is forthcoming, she said.