The Polar BEAR Mission


The Polar BEAR spacecraft was launched on November 13, 1986, from Vandeberg AFB, California, into a near circular polar orbit of 1000-km altitude, with an inclination of 90 degrees. The mision objective was to measure ionospheric parameters and their effects on RF wave propogation. Data gathered by the Polar BEAR spacecraft provides coverage of the auroral oval in an area different from what was observed from previous spacecraft and complements data gathered by the predecessor spacecraft HILAT.

Currently available on-line are GIF images of analysis plots. These images are separated into directories which cover 10 day time periods with images at approximately two hour intervals.

Images