Satellite, AOSO, Advanced Orbiting Solar Observatory

This is a full-scale engineering mockup of the Advanced Orbiting Solar Observatory (AOSO) representing its most complete configuration. This satellite was designed as a scaled-up counterpart to the Orbiting Solar Observatory series in the early 1960s. It was conceived as a free-flying robotic polar-orbiting satellite system capable of continuously monitoring the sun and near solar environment using an array of detectors and electronic imaging devices covering a broad frequency band from the x-ray to the visual range. Many of the scientific instruments planned for AOSO eventually were developed for the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount, which flew in 1973. he AOSO program was canceled in 1965 and this object was transferred to NASM by NASA in 1969.