Heliophysics

Solar Maximum Mission (SMM)

Solar Observatory · Directed · Agency-led · Launched on February 14, 1980 · Completed · LCC: $99M/$581M (2025 $)Life-cycle cost: NASA’s reported cost to build, launch, and operate a mission through its prime mission, plus documented partner contributions, in 2025 dollars. Extended missions are not included. Methods · Wikipedia

Scope Active Mission WindowActivePapers published from the first full month after science operations begin through two years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. For SMM, papers published March 1, 1980 to January 1, 1992. Methods LifetimeLifetimeEvery tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. For SMM, papers published from 1980 to November 3, 2026. Methods
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed papers we found that name the mission or its instruments in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. Papers that used the data without naming it are missed. Methods1,016
CitationsCitations: every citation these publications have drawn to date. Older missions have had longer to collect them. Methods40,040
Citation indices
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods92
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods155
m-indexm-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes; the figure shown is as of November 3, 2026. It also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods2.0
toritori (total research impact, from SciX): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Always over every tracked publication to date, whichever scope is chosen. Methods559
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Like tori, always over every tracked publication to date. Methods503

Publications and citations by year (lifetime)

Publications per yearCumulative citations

Institutional contributions (lifetime)The institutions SciX lists for each paper’s authors, as printed on the paper, located through the Research Organization Registry. A square counts a paper once, however many of its authors worked there. Methods

Loading the map…

Tracked publications over the lifetime (1,016)

All publications CSV · JSON

  1. NRLMSISE-00 empirical model of the atmosphere: Statistical comparisons and scientific issues

    Picone, J. M., 2002, JGRA

    2,684 lifetime citations

  2. Sizes and locations of coronal mass ejections: SMM observations from 1980 and 1984-1989

    Hundhausen, A. J., 1993, JGR

    498 lifetime citations

  3. Frequency distributions and correlations of solar X-ray flare parameters

    Crosby, Norma B., 1993, SoPh

    496 lifetime citations

  4. Critical issues for understanding particle acceleration in impulsive solar flares

    Miller, James A., 1997, JGR

    454 lifetime citations

  5. A 154-day periodicity in the occurrence of hard solar flares?

    Rieger, E., 1984, Natur

    449 lifetime citations

  6. Solar Hard X-Ray Bursts

    Dennis, B. R., 1985, SoPh

    439 lifetime citations

  7. Revisiting the SN1987A gamma-ray limit on ultralight axion-like particles

    Payez, Alexandre, 2015, JCAP

    405 lifetime citations

  8. Impulsive Phase of Flares in Soft X-Ray Emission

    Antonucci, E., 1982, SoPh

    352 lifetime citations

  9. Observations of Solar Irradiance Variability

    Willson, R. C., 1981, Sci

    348 lifetime citations

  10. Observation of a coronal transient from 1.2 to 6 solar radii

    Illing, R. M. E., 1985, JGR

    338 lifetime citations

  11. The Neupert Effect: what can it tell up about the Impulsive and Gradual Phases of Solar Flares

    Dennis, Brian R., 1993, SoPh

    306 lifetime citations

  12. Activity Associated with the Solar Origin of Coronal Mass Ejections

    Webb, D. F., 1987, SoPh

    300 lifetime citations

  13. Disruption of a coronal streamer by an eruptive prominence and coronal mass ejection

    Illing, R. M. E., 1986, JGR

    292 lifetime citations

  14. Magnetic Modulation of Solar Luminosity by Photospheric Activity

    Foukal, P., 1988, ApJ

    286 lifetime citations

  15. The Sun's luminosity over a complete solar cycle

    Willson, Richard C., 1991, Natur

    283 lifetime citations

  16. The initiation of coronal mass ejections by newly emerging magnetic flux

    Feynman, J., 1995, JGR

    281 lifetime citations

  17. Injection Profiles of Solar Energetic Particles as Functions of Coronal Mass Ejection Heights

    Kahler, S., 1994, ApJ

    276 lifetime citations

  18. Gamma-ray line emission from SN1987A

    Matz, S. M., 1988, Natur

    269 lifetime citations

  19. Change of solar oscillation eigenfrequencies with the solar cycle

    Woodard, Martin F., 1985, Natur

    253 lifetime citations

  20. Solar luminosity variations in solar cycle 21

    Willson, Richard C., 1988, Natur

    251 lifetime citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Science Explorer (SciX) for peer-reviewed articles naming SMM in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces.

((=abs:"Solar Maximum Mission" OR facility:SMM OR (abs:SMM AND collection:astronomy NOT abs:(submillimeter OR submillimetre OR submm OR SCUBA OR protostar OR protostars OR protostellar OR Serpens OR lensed OR multifragmentation OR ULIRG) NOT =abs:"molecular gas" NOT =abs:"high redshift" NOT =abs:"high-redshift" NOT =abs:"mixture modeling") OR (=abs:"Solar Max" AND abs:(ACRIM OR blankets OR louver OR repair OR "space shuttle")) OR ((abs:HXIS OR =abs:"Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer") AND abs:(flare OR flares OR solar OR sun OR coronal OR arch OR arches) NOT abs:(STIX OR "Solar Orbiter" OR "ASO-S" OR Hitomi OR NuSTAR)) OR ((abs:HXRBS OR =abs:"Hard X-ray Burst Spectrometer") AND (abs:(flare OR flares OR solar OR sun OR "gamma-ray") OR =abs:"gamma rays") NOT abs:binaries) OR ((abs:UVSP OR =abs:"Ultraviolet Spectrometer and Polarimeter") AND abs:(solar OR sun OR flare OR flares OR ozone OR filament OR "transition region") NOT abs:Mars) OR ((abs:XRP OR =abs:"X-Ray Polychromator") AND abs:(flare OR flares OR "active region") NOT abs:pulsar) OR (=abs:"Coronagraph/Polarimeter" AND abs:(CME OR CMEs)) OR =abs:"ACRIM I" OR (abs:(ACRIM1 OR "ACRIM-1") AND abs:(irradiance OR TSI OR solar)))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[1980-03 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "ACPD" OR "AIASJ" OR "AMTD" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "BGD" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "CliPD" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "ESDD" OR "ESSDD" OR "ESuDD" OR "GID" OR "GMDD" OR "GeCAS" OR "HESSD" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NHESD" OR "NPGD" OR "NewSc" OR "OcScD" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SOILD" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "TCD" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Removed after review (13)

  1. New Mauna Loa coronagraph systems Describes ground-based coronagraphs at Mauna Loa; reports no SMM results. Decision 🤖
  2. A long duration balloon-borne telescope for solar gamma-ray astronomy Design of a balloon-borne gamma-ray telescope; cites SMM only for comparison. Decision 🤖
  3. Plasma diagnostic capabilities of the Soft X-Ray Telescope on Solar-A Describes the Yohkoh soft X-ray telescope; SMM appears only through a mistaken keyword. Decision 🤖
  4. The Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT) for the SOLAR-A mission Describes the Yohkoh hard X-ray telescope; reports no SMM results. Decision 🤖
  5. FRESIP: A Mission to Determine the Character and Frequency of Extra-Solar Planets Around Solar-Like Stars Concept study for the FRESIP planet-finding mission; does not concern SMM. Decision 🤖
  6. Melted micrometeorites from Antarctic ice with evidence for the separation of immiscible Fe-Ni-S liquids during entry heating. SMM here means a scoriaceous micrometeorite; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  7. Impact of surface meteorological measurements on GPS height determination SMM here means surface meteorological measurements; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  8. SMM, A New Seafloor Monitoring Module for Real-Time Data Transmission: an Application to Shallow Hydrothermal Vents SMM here is a seafloor monitoring module; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  9. Frequency-domain terahertz transmission spectra of Mn₃ and Mn₁₂ single-molecule magnets SMM here means single-molecule magnets; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  10. What did the seahorse swallow? APEX 170 GHz observations of the chemical conditions in the Seahorse infrared dark cloud SMM here labels submillimetre clumps in a dark cloud; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  11. Cross sections for the production of radionuclides via ⁿᵃᵗCu(p,X) spallation reactions for proton energies from 250 MeV to 2 GeV SMM here is a nuclear reaction model; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  12. 3D Joint Inversion of Scanning Magnetic Microscopy Data SMM here means scanning magnetic microscopy; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖
  13. Instability analysis of Saturnian magnetospheric complex plasmas with heteropolar dust grains SMM here means Saturn's middle magnetosphere; unrelated to the Solar Maximum Mission. Decision 🤖