Heliophysics Science Division

HINODE

Class:

Flight Project

Status:

Operational

Organizations:

Launch Date:

September 2006

WEBSITE:

The Hinode mission is a follow-on to the highly successful Japan/US/UK Yohkoh (Solar-A) satellite which operated between 1991 and 2001. Led by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Space Science Research Division (formerly the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)), Hinode consists of a coordinated set of optical, EUV, and X-ray instruments that will investigate the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona. The result will be an improved understanding of the mechanisms that power the solar atmosphere and drive solar eruptions. This information will tell us much about how the Sun generates magnetic disturbances and high-energy particle storms that propagate from the Sun to the Earth and beyond; in this sense, Hinode will help us predict "space weather."

HINODE solar image.