Mug measures 3.75 inches high by 3 inches in diameter.

CONDITION: Like new – unused. Cabinet kept. One owner.

MSX (Midcourse Space Experiment)

Mission type: EO

Agency: DoD (USA)

Mission status: Mission complete

Launch date: 24 Apr 1996

End of life date: 01 Jul 2008

Measurement domain: Atmosphere, Gravity and Magnetic Fields

Measurement category: Multi-purpose imagery (ocean), Gravity, Magnetic and Geodynamic measurements, Atmospheric Humidity Fields, Lightning Detection

Instruments: Multi-band UV/VIS Spectrometer (ACE), TDP, HF Beacon Transmitter

Instrument type: High resolution optical imagers, Magnetic field, Other, Communications, Data collection, Lightning sensors

The MSX satellite was an observatory-class observation platform and global surveillance system of the US DoD; it was funded and managed by BMDO (Ballistic Missile Defense Organization) with JHU/APL (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory) of Laurel, MD as the prime contractor, spacecraft integrator, and operator of the mission. MSX represented the first system demonstration in space of technology to identify and track ballistic missiles during their midcourse flight phase. The suite of optical sensors cover the spectrum from the far ultraviolet (110 nm) through the very-long-wave infrared (28 µm) spectrum.

The primary objectives of MSX were to detect, acquire and track targets and to discriminate lethal from nonlethal objects (detailed characterization and modeling of target objects and their associated phenomenology of the terrestrial, Earth-limb, and celestial backgrounds). The information gathered by the MSX spacecraft helped fill significant spatial, spectral, and temporal gaps that existed in space environment models.

In addition to meeting the needs of the BMDO, the MSX spacecraft provided a civilian benefit owing to its multispectral and hyperspectral capabilities. Data collected from BMDO-related experiments were be used to perform environmental studies of the Earth.

Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was set up in 1984. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed the Star Wars program, was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles).

Box dimensions: 12 x 6 x 6”

Box weight: 1 lb, 6.8 oz.

Ships from zip code: 27949

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