Midcourse Space Experiment: mission and targets
Data as of 2026-10-04
Dates declared by the archive
- Project start
- April 24, 1996
- Declared end
- February 26, 1997
The start the archive declares is the start of the project, not the launch, and an end it does not declare does not mean the mission is still running.
In Galaxy
Targets you can open in 3D:
A declared target is what the archive files the mission’s data under, not a record of observation.
Description published by the archive
The Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) was launched in 1996 by the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defence Organization (renamed the "Missile Defense Agency" in 2002) as a technology demonstration mission. Part of its mission included mapping the galactic plane in the Infrared, imaging the moon, and surveying small bodies.
Quoted in English, as the archive publishes it, read on October 4, 2026.
Other targets declared
- DUST (dust)
Source
Identifier in the archive, which is its citation: urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.midcourse_space_experiment
NASA Planetary Data System, PDS Registry, investigation context products. Dates and targets read on September 29, 2026; how to cite the archive: https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/citing/