SAC-B, Argentine Scientific Satellite

Abstract

The project and the missions of the Argentine scientific satellite, SAC-B, are summarized. SAC-B is an international cooperative project between NASA and the Secretariat of State of Science and Technology of the Argentine Republic. The objective of SAC-B is to advance the study of solar physics and astrophysics through the examination of solar flares, gamma ray burst sources and the diffuse soft X-ray cosmic background. The scientific payload comprises an instrument to measure the temporal evolution of X-ray emissions from solar flares as well as nonsolar gamma ray bursts, a combined soft X-ray and gamma ray burst detector, a diffuse X-ray background detector, and an energetic neutral atoms detector.