Scientific Cooperation

Argentina's National Commission on Space Activities(CONAE) was created by President Menem in 1991. Shortly thereafter, CONAE signed an Agreement with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the promotion of civilian space research and cooperation. An agreement extending the 1991 agreement was signed in 1996. Cooperative activities have included scientific exchanges, the launching by NASA of Argentine scientific satellites, and a 1997 U.S.-Argentine space conference hosted by CONAE and NASA. In addition, the U.S. and Argentina work closely on the Gemini and Auger projects, described below.  For a complete list of U.S./Argentine agreements please see EST-Related Agreements.

Scientific Satellites

CONAE, collaborating with NASA, has developed a series of three scientific application satellites, SAC-A, B, and C.  Additional satellites are in the planning stage. SAC-B was the first SAC series satellite. The satellite was designed for the advanced study of solar physics and astrophysics through the examination of solar flares, gamma ray bursts, diffuse cosmic background X-rays, and energetic neutral atoms. Launched in November 1996, a power failure in the third stage of NASA's Pegasus-XL launcher rendered SAC-B useless after a few orbits.
 
SAC-A was a mini-satellite designed to test several new technologies. Instrumentation included an Earth-monitoring CCD Camera; Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to determine satellite attitude and position; Silicon Cell Panels to analyze the performance and degradation of the cells' electrical characteristics in a microgravity environment; NASA's Magnetometer Experiment for scalar measurement of the Earth's magnetic field; and a whale tracker to monitor whale movements in the South Atlantic Ocean. INVAP supplied the platform, the CCD Camera, and the DGPS. The Silicon Cell Panels were provided by the Argentine National Atomic Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, CNEA). SAC-C was launched by NASA Space Shuttle flight STS-88 on 14 December 1998 and successfully completed its yearlong mission.

SAC-A was a mini-satellite designed to test several new technologies. Instrumentation included an Earth-monitoring CCD Camera; Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to determine satellite attitude and position; Silicon Cell Panels to analyze the performance and degradation of the cells' electrical characteristics in a microgravity environment; NASA's Magnetometer Experiment for scalar measurement of the Earth's magnetic field; and a whale tracker to monitor whale movements in the South Atlantic Ocean. INVAP supplied the platform, the CCD Camera, and the DGPS. The Silicon Cell Panels were provided by the Argentine National Atomic Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, CNEA). SAC-C was launched by NASA Space Shuttle flight STS-88 on 14 December 1998 and successfully completed its yearlong mission.
 
The SAC series satellite, SAC-C, is Argentina's first Earth Observation Satellite. CONAE collaborated with NASA and the space agencies of Denmark, Italy, Spain, France, and Brazil in preparation for this mission. The satellite provides data for the study of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, atmospheric temperature, water vapor monitoring, variability in the ionosphere structure, measurements of the geomagnetic field, and the long wavelength component of the gravitational field. In addition, it will update low orbit space radiation environment models. The SAC-C satellite was launched on 21 November 2000.
 
CONAE and NASA are currently collaborating on the SAC-D/Aquarius satellite, under construction by the Argentine high-tech firm INVAP, which is scheduled for launch in 2008.  It will carry a NASA instrument (the Aquarius) to measure the salinity of the oceans, which is a key element in climate change science, and an Argentine-made infrared camera (also made by INVAP) to study soil temperatures.

Auger Project

The Auger Project is a broadly based international effort to make a detailed study of cosmic rays which are fast-moving particles from space that constantly bombard the earth. Their origin is not known, but the highest-energy particles might hold the secrets to the beginning of our universe. The Auger Project involves the construction of two grids of cosmic ray detectors, one in the Northern Hemisphere and another in the Southern Hemisphere. Millard County, Utah, is the Northern Hemisphere detection site.  In September 1996, a team chose Mendoza, Argentina as the Southern Hemisphere site.  The Mendoza site held it’s dedication ceremony in December 2003. 

Gemini Project

The Gemini Project is a multinational effort to build twin 8.1 meter telescopes. One telescope, on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, is now operational and covers the Northern skies. The other telescope is located on Chile's Cerro Pachon and will cover the Southern skies. In addition to the U.S. and Argentina, participants include the U.K., Canada, Chile, and Brazil. The Gemini project is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF).