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Solar Maximum Mission
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Astronaut George Nelson (top left) attempting to dock with the U.S. Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite during an in-orbit repair mission by the crew of Space Shuttle “Challenger” in April 1984. The SMM satellite is specially equipped to observe the Sun in white light through the gamma-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum and to monitor its total energy output. The satellite was launched Feb. 14, 1980.
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Solar Maximum Mission

United States space laboratory
Also known as: SMM
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Astronaut George Nelson (top left) attempting to dock with the U.S. Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite during an in-orbit repair mission by the crew of Space Shuttle “Challenger” in April 1984. The SMM satellite is specially equipped to observe the Sun in white light through the gamma-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum and to monitor its total energy output. The satellite was launched Feb. 14, 1980.
Astronaut George Nelson (top left) attempting to dock with the U.S. Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite during an in-orbit repair mission by the crew of Space Shuttle “Challenger” in April 1984. The SMM satellite is specially equipped to observe the Sun in white light through the gamma-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum and to monitor its total energy output. The satellite was launched Feb. 14, 1980.

The Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) was a United States space laboratory launched in 1980 to study the Sun. It aimed to gather improved data on the solar cycle's dependence on the solar constant and capture hard X-ray data without saturation.1

A malfunction in 1981 suspended the mission until 1984, when it was repaired by the space shuttle Challenger. The SMM was part of a broader effort in solar and space physics, which investigates the Sun's characteristics and its influence on the solar system, including phenomena like the solar wind and its interaction with Earth's magnetosphere.12

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2 Britannica Sources
  1. Sun - History of observation
  2. space exploration - Solar and space physics

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