Objectives and Applications
POLAR is a NASA/GSFC solar-terrestrial mission within the GGS (Global Geospace Science) program and the ISTP (International Solar Terrestrial Physics) program. The objective is to study the ionospheric role in substorm phenomena and in the overall magnetospheric energy balance (measurements of plasma entry and transport into the northern dayside cusp regions at high altitudes and over the southern polar cap at low altitudes, global imaging of the northern auroral zone).
Full Name
Mission Status
Mission complete
Mission Agencies
Launch Date
24 Feb 1996
Mission Links
EOL Date
28 Apr 2008
Orbit Type
Orbit Period
17.5 minutes
Orbit Sense
Orbit Inclination
86 deg
Orbit Altitude
Orbit Longitude
NORAD Catalog #
International Designator