Two conical solar panels extend above and below the central body, giving the assembly the appearance of a diabolo or spool of thread.Īt launch, each probe was 2.12 metres (6 ft 11 in) tall with a maximum diameter of 2.77 metres (9 ft 1 in). The exceptions are the masts and antennae used during experiments and small telescopes that measure the zodiacal light and emerge from the central body. Most of the equipment and instrumentation is mounted in this central body. The central bodies are sixteen-sided prisms 1.75 metres (5 ft 9 in) in diameter and 0.55 metres (1 ft 10 in) high. Their scientific payloads have a mass of 73.2 kilograms (161 lb) on Helios-A and 76.5 kilograms (169 lb) on Helios-B. Helios-A has a mass of 370 kilograms (820 lb), and Helios-B has a mass of 376.5 kilograms (830 lb). As built by the main contractor, Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, they were the first space probes built outside the United States and the Soviet Union to leave Earth orbit. The Helios project was a joint venture of West Germany's space agency DLR (70 percent share) and NASA (30 percent share). The probes are no longer functional, but as of 2023 remain in elliptical orbits around the Sun. ![]() Helios-B performed the closest flyby of the Sun of any spacecraft until that time. The Helios project set a maximum speed record for spacecraft of 252,792 km/h (157,078 mph 70,220 m/s). As a joint venture between German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA, the probes were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on December 10, 1974, and January 15, 1976, respectively. Helios-A and Helios-B (after launch renamed Helios 1 and Helios 2) are a pair of probes that were launched into heliocentric orbit to study solar processes.
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