Universe Today » Satellites

Two ESA Satellites Launch Successfully

Nicholos Wethington — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:47:11 +0000

UPDATE: Information about both SMOS and the Proba-2 satelite are on ESA Television. The program loop is embedded at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

Last night at 2:50 am Central European Time, two European Space Agency (ESA) satellites were successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. The Rockot launch vehicle was carrying both the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, and the Proba-2 satellite. SMOS will monitor the moisture exchange of the Earth between the ocean, air and land as well as the salinity of the oceans and the moisture of the soil in an effort to better understand how these factors influence the climate of our planet. Proba-2 will test out various instruments, including a small wide angle optical camera, and instruments for monitoring the plasma environment in orbit and the Sun's corona.(...)
Read the rest of Two ESA Satellites Launch Successfully (442 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

NASA 3-D Map Shows Flooding Rains of Typhoon Ketsana

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:20:25 +0000

Data from NASA's TRMM satellite was used to create an enhanced 3-D topographic rainfall map of Ketsana's flooding rains received in the Philippines. The dark yellow and orange areas indicate 375 mm (~15 inches) to over 475 mm (~19 inches), respectively. The red area over Manila indicates almost 2 feet of rain fell. Credit: SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce

Data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite has been used to create a 3-D map of rainfall over the Phillipines from September 21-28, 2008. Armed with both a passive microwave sensor and a space-borne precipitation radar, TRMM has been measuring the amount of rainfall created by the tropical cyclone, Typhoon Ketsana (known in the Phillippines as "Ondoy"). A record 13.43 inches of rain fell in Manila in six hours between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time, which is equivalent to about a month's worth of rain for the area. In just 24 hours, Ketsana dropped 17.9 inches (455 mm) of rain in Manila in just 24 hours on Saturday, September 26.
(...)
Read the rest of NASA 3-D Map Shows Flooding Rains of Typhoon Ketsana (220 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

GOCE Satellite Begins Mapping Earth's Gravity in Lower Orbit Than Expected

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:54:36 +0000

Anaglyph images created from an ESA video animation of global gravity gradients. A more accurate global map will be generated by ESA's GOCE craft. Credit: ESA and Nathanial Burton Bradford.

Is Earth's gravity field as intriguing and misshapen as this image above? We're about to find out. The sexy looking Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer or GOCE satellite has completed its calibration and is now in its science orbit to map the tiny variations of Earth's gravity in unprecedented detail. And it turns out the sun's current period of low solar activity has a side benefit for the GOCE mission. Less solar activity means a calmer environment for GOCE in its low Earth orbit, so its current orbit of 255 km is a few kilometers lower than engineers had originally planned. This is good news – the gravity measurements being made at the moment will be even more accurate.
(...)
Read the rest of GOCE Satellite Begins Mapping Earth's Gravity in Lower Orbit Than Expected (405 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Earth Observation, GOCE, Satellites

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Best Ever View of Andromeda in Ultraviolet

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:14:42 +0000

Normally, the Swift satellite is searching for distant cosmic explosions. But recently it took some time to take a long look (total exposure time: 24 hours) with its ultraviolet eyes at the Andromeda galaxy, a.k.a. M31. The result is this gorgeous image. "Swift reveals about 20,000 ultraviolet sources in M31, especially hot, young stars and dense star clusters," said Stefan Immler, a research scientist on the Swift team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "Of particular importance is that we have covered the galaxy in three ultraviolet filters. That will let us study M31's star-formation processes in much greater detail than previously possible."

Compare this image to an optical version taken by a ground-based telescope:
(...)
Read the rest of Best Ever View of Andromeda in Ultraviolet (157 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Earth From Space: Plankton Bloom

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:39:27 +0000

This Envisat image captures a plankton bloom in the Barents Sea. Credit: ESA

What a gorgeous shot of our blue planet! This Envisat satellite image taken on August 19, 2009 captures a plankton bloom larger than the country of Greece stretching across the Barents Sea off the tip of northern Europe. The land visible across the bottom of the image belongs to Norway (left) and Russia’s Murmansk Oblast.
(...)
Read the rest of Earth From Space: Plankton Bloom (94 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

South Korea Launches Rocket; Satellite Fails to Reach Its Orbit

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:18:33 +0000

South Korea successfully launched its first rocket on Tuesday, but the satellite payload failed to reach its designated orbit, officials said. The rocket, a two-stage rocket, called the Naro lifted off on schedule at 5:00 pm local time, (0800 GMT). The first stage separated successfully less than five minutes after lift-off and the South Korean-built 100-kilogram (220-pound) scientific research satellite was placed into Earth orbit. But science and technology minister Ahn Byong-Man said it was not following the designated orbit, hampering communications with mission control. "All aspects of the launch were normal, but the satellite exceeded its planned orbit and reached an altitude of 360 kilometres (225 miles)," Ahn said.
(...)
Read the rest of South Korea Launches Rocket; Satellite Fails to Reach Its Orbit (122 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Launch Your Own Personal Satellite for $8,000 USD

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:26:54 +0000

A TubeSat. Credit: InterOrbital.com

Want to launch something into space? You can now do just that for only $8,000 USD. The rocket company Interorbital Services (IOS) is offering their "TubeSat Personal Satellite Kit" that can carry 0.75-kg into orbit. The price includes a launch into low Earth orbit on an IOS NEPTUNE 30 launch vehicle to 310 kilometers (192 miles) above the Earth. TubeSats are designed to be orbit-friendly, and not contribute to orbital debris by being in a self-decaying orbit. Launches are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.
(...)
Read the rest of Launch Your Own Personal Satellite for $8,000 USD (229 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

The Grand Canyon From Space

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:07:28 +0000

The Grand Canyon is an awesome sight on Earth — one of the seven natural wonders of the world – and it looks breathtaking from space, too. This image was taken by the Envisat satellite, showing canyon walls, rock structures, old lava flows, buttes, ravines, stair-step topography in hues of pink, violet and gray.
(...)
Read the rest of The Grand Canyon From Space (183 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

NASA, Japan Release Most Complete Topographic Map of Earth

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:50:02 +0000

In this perspective view, the new topographic maps show the LA Basin. Credit: NASA, MET

Topographic maps are some of the most used and valuable maps for both government and the general public. Now, NASA and Japan have released a new digital topographic map of Earth Monday that covers more of our planet than ever before and was created from nearly 1.3 million individual stereo-pair images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER, on board NASA's Terra spacecraft. It is available online to users everywhere at no cost.
(...)
Read the rest of NASA, Japan Release Most Complete Topographic Map of Earth (323 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

NASA IBEX Spacecraft Detects Neutral Hydrogen Bouncing Off Moon

Brian Ventrudo — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:53:33 +0000

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence. Launched last October, the IBEX has a mission to image and map the dynamic interactions caused by the hot solar wind slamming into the cold expanse of space. But as the IBEX team commissioned the spacecraft, they discovered the stream of neutral hydrogen atoms which are caused by the solar wind scattering off the moon's surface.

(...)
Read the rest of NASA IBEX Spacecraft Detects Neutral Hydrogen Bouncing Off Moon (598 words)

© Brian Ventrudo for Universe Today, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: IBEX, Moon, solar wind

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Researchers Seeing Red on Ocean Health

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:21:53 +0000

The MODIS instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite compiled this global view of the amount of fluorescent light emitted by phytoplankton in the ocean. Credit: Oregon State University

With the help of an orbiting satellite, researchers have conducted the first global analysis of the health and productivity of ocean plants. Using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, scientists have for the first time measured remotely the amount of fluorescent red light emitted by ocean phytoplankton and assess how efficiently the microscopic plants are turning sunlight and nutrients into food through photosynthesis. Now that they have their first data, this method should allow scientists to effectively keep an eye on the health of our oceans. So what did they find out so far?
(...)
Read the rest of Researchers Seeing Red on Ocean Health (595 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Debris Whizzes By Hubble, Shuttle; What Are We Going to do About Space Junk?

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:17:00 +0000

NASA tracked a piece of orbital debris that came fairly close to space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope Wednesday evening, but decided no evasive maneuver was required. A 4 inch (10 cm) chunk of a Chinese satellite that was destroyed in a 2007 anti-satellite test came within 1.7 miles (2.8 km) ahead and 150 meters below Atlantis at its closest approach. These potential orbital impacts seem to be occurring routinely for the ISS, and previous shuttle missions have been forced to maneuver out of the way to avoid collisions. The satellite collision in February destroyed a functional satellite, and seemingly, it will be only a matter of time until a serious impact could endanger human lives in orbit. Last week, experts gathered at the International Interdisciplinary Congress on Space Debris, at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and concluded that action must be taken now to reduce the threat to both human spaceflight and satellites from destructive space debris.
(...)
Read the rest of Debris Whizzes By Hubble, Shuttle; What Are We Going to do About Space Junk? (500 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New Finding Shows Super-Huge Space Tornados Power the Auroras

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:45:27 +0000

If you think tornadoes on Earth are scary, newly found "space tornadoes" sound downright horrifying. But they are likely the power source behind the beautiful Northern and Southern Lights. A new finding by a cluster of five space probes – the THEMIS, or Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms show that electrical funnels which span a volume as large as Earth produce electrical currents exceeding 100,000 amperes. THEMIS recorded the extent and power of these electrical funnels as the probes passed through them during their orbit of Earth. Ground measurements showed that the space tornadoes channel the electrical current into the ionosphere to spark bright and colorful auroras on Earth.
(...)
Read the rest of New Finding Shows Super-Huge Space Tornados Power the Auroras (257 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Major Utility Company Makes Agreement for Space Based Solar Power

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:55:25 +0000

Solar Collecting Satellite. Image courtesy of Mafic Studios.

One of the largest utility companies in the US has decided to look towards space to find more power. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) in California announced a proposed agreement with startup company Solaren Corporation to provide 200 mega watts of space based solar power (SBSP) starting in 2016. PG&E is now seeking approval from California state regulators for permission to sign this agreement. While PG&E is not making any financial investment at this time, the announcement shows that SBSP is being taken seriously as a viable energy source. PG&E and the two other California utilities are required by the state to source 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010 and 30 percent by 2017. None are producing the required amount so far.
(...)
Read the rest of Major Utility Company Makes Agreement for Space Based Solar Power (324 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Spacecraft Searching for Remains of Mystery Planet

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:47:50 +0000

How did our Moon form? The leading hypothesis, the Giant Impact Theory, proposes that in the formative years of the Solar System, a Mars-sized protoplanet crashed into Earth. Debris from the collision, a mixture of material from both bodies, spun out into Earth orbit and coalesced into the Moon. Soon, this theory will be tested, perhaps answering the question of how our Moon was born. Two identical NASA spacecraft are preparing to enter areas in space known as the Lagrangian points where remains of this mystery protoplanet may be hiding. The spacecraft duo, called Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or Stereo, will pass by the L4 and L5 points where the gravity of the sun and Earth combine to form gravitational wells where asteroids and space dust tend to gather.
(...)
Read the rest of Spacecraft Searching for Remains of Mystery Planet (408 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

At Last: Successful Launch for European Climate Satellite

Anne Minard — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:56:58 +0000

Artist's impression of the GOCE satellite. Credit: ESA

Europe's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is headed into orbit, after a successful launch at 10:21 a.m. EDT (14:21 GMT) on Tuesday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

The successful liftoff came after delays stretching back to last September, but Tuesday's launch went off without any complications.

"It was a nice liftoff," said Mission Scientist Mark Drinkwater.

(...)
Read the rest of At Last: Successful Launch for European Climate Satellite (104 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Europe's Climate Satellite Fails to Leave Pad

Anne Minard — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:40:28 +0000

GOCE, (still) pre-launch

Europe's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) seems to be stuck on the pad.

The climate change satellite was expected to launch out of Russia at 14:21 GMT (10:21 EDT) today, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The weather was fine and mission managers were optimistic with seconds to liftoff — and then, everything froze. With seven seconds left on the countdown clock, an unexpected hold went into place and ESA broadcasters simply stopped talking.

Update, 12:30 p.m. EDT: The ESA has announced that launch failed when the doors of the launch service tower did not open. The tower was held in position and did not move back as required for a launch. An investigation is under way, and the agency intends to try again tomorrow at the same time (15:21 CET; 14:21 GMT; 10:21 a.m. EDT).

(...)
Read the rest of Europe's Climate Satellite Fails to Leave Pad (275 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Herschel and Planck Launch Delayed

Nancy Atkinson — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:34:46 +0000

The launch of the Herschel and Planck spacecraft has been delayed from the original launch date of April 16. Right now, officials from the European Space Agency and Arianspace say the liftoff date will be delayed by a few weeks in order to carry out additional checks on the ground segment of the Herschel and Planck programs. Recent software updates for spacecraft operation procedures need to be validated. A new launch date will be announced at the end of March, but officials are hoping for time frame around April 29.
(...)
Read the rest of Herschel and Planck Launch Delayed (190 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

'Sexy' GOCE Spacecraft Will Try Again For Launch

Nancy Atkinson — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:08:40 +0000

I got some grief for calling the GOCE spacecraft 'sexy' last year, but I'm sticking with that description. What a gorgeous spacecraft! And the GOCE team has stuck with their spacecraft while it had to stand down from launch in September of 2008 when problems were discovered with the guidance and navigation subsystems on the Russian Breeze KM rocket. GOCE had to be de-mated from the rocket and brought back into the clean room last year, but now is back on the launch pad, and is scheduled to liftoff on Monday, March 16 at 14:21 GMT from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
(...)
Read the rest of 'Sexy' GOCE Spacecraft Will Try Again For Launch (194 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Top Ten Gamma Ray Sources from the Fermi Telescope

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:35:45 +0000

The Fermi Telescope is seeing a Universe ablaze with Gamma Rays! A new map combining nearly three months of data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is giving astronomers an unprecedented look at the high-energy cosmos."Fermi has given us a deeper and better-resolved view of the gamma-ray sky than any previous space mission," said Peter Michelson, the lead scientist for the spacecraft's Large Area Telescope (LAT) at Stanford University, Calif. "We're watching flares from supermassive black holes in distant galaxies and seeing pulsars, high-mass binary systems, and even a globular cluster in our own." The sources of these gamma rays come from within our solar system to galaxies billions of light-years away. To show the variety of the objects the LAT is seeing, the Fermi team created a "top ten" list comprising five sources within the Milky Way and five beyond our galaxy.
(...)
Read the rest of Top Ten Gamma Ray Sources from the Fermi Telescope (710 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Debris From Satellite Collision to Start Entering Earth's Atmosphere

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:28:42 +0000

Map of debris from satellite collision. Credit: Dan Deak and Spaceweather.com

Debris from the satellite collision that occurred on February 10th will soon start entering Earth's atmosphere. 355 debris fragments from the collision between the Cosmos 2251 and the Iridium 33 satellites are being tracked by US Strategic Command, and one fragment will enter the atmosphere on March 12, followed by one on March 28th and another on March 30th. According to Spaceweather.com, these are likely centimeter-sized pieces that will disintegrate in the atmosphere, posing no threat to people on the ground. Each fragment is cataloged and tracked.
(...)
Read the rest of Debris From Satellite Collision to Start Entering Earth's Atmosphere (211 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Swift Satellite Catches Early Stages of GRB

Nancy Atkinson — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:53:13 +0000

Astronomers have now been able to see the very early stages of a gamma ray burst, thanks to the Swift satellite. The Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on board the satellite provided an ultraviolet spectrum of a GRB just 251 seconds after its onset – the earliest ever captured. Further use of the instrument in this way will also allow distance and brightness of GRBs to be calculated within a few hundred seconds of their initial outburst, as well as gather new information about the causes of bursts and the galaxies they originate from.

“The UVOT’s wavelength range, coupled with the fact that Swift is a space observatory with a speedy response rate, unconstrained by time of day or weather, has allowed us to collect this early ultraviolet spectrum,” said Martin Still from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) at UCL.
(...)
Read the rest of Swift Satellite Catches Early Stages of GRB (326 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

OCO Press Conference Notes: Fairing Did Not Separate

Nancy Atkinson — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:26:26 +0000

As Ian reported earlier this morning, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to reach orbit after its 4:55 a.m. EST liftoff Tuesday from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. At a press conference, officials said preliminary indications are that the fairing on the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate about three minutes into the flight. The fairing, or nosecone, is a clamshell structure that covers the satellite as it travels through the atmosphere. "The fairing has considerable weight, and when it separates off you get a jump in acceleration," said John Brunschwyler from Orbital Sciences Corporation, the rocket's manufacturer. "We did not have that jump of acceleration and as a direct result of carrying that extra weight, we could not make orbit. And so, the initial indications are that the vehicle did not have enough Delta V to reach orbit, and landed just short of Antarctica in the ocean."

Brunschwyler added, "Our whole team, at a very personal level, is disappointed in the events of this morning….Certainly for the science community it's a huge disappointment. It's taken so long to get here."

Watch the launch video below:
(...)
Read the rest of OCO Press Conference Notes: Fairing Did Not Separate (522 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Orbiting Carbon Observatory Launch Failure

Ian O'Neill — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:54:09 +0000

This morning (Tuesday), shortly after 2am PST (10am GMT), the launch of Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) mission resulted in failure. According to reports from NASA, a "launch contingency" was declared shortly after the Taurus rocket upper stage finished firing T+12 minutes, 30 seconds into the flight. The rocket nose cone fairing failed to separate as expected, therefore the satellite could not be released. Further news is pending, but it appears that the failed Taurus XL upper stage plus OCO satellite remains in orbit. The OCO mission is declared lost…
(...)
Read the rest of Orbiting Carbon Observatory Launch Failure (323 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New Company Looks to Produce Space Based Solar Power Within a Decade

Nancy Atkinson — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:44:37 +0000

Solar Collecting Satellite. Image courtesy of Mafic Studios.

Is space-based solar power (SBSP) a technology whose time has come? The concept and even some of the hardware for harnessing energy from the sun with orbiting solar arrays has been around for some time. But the biggest challenge for making the concept a reality, says entrepreneur Peter Sage of Space Energy, Inc., is that SBSP has never been commercially viable. But that could be changing. Space Energy, Inc. has assembled an impressive team of scientists, engineers and business people, putting together what Sage calls "a rock-solid commercial platform" for their company. And given the current looming issues of growing energy needs and climate change, Space Energy, Inc. could be in the right place at the right time.

"Although it’s a very grandiose vision, it makes total sense," Sage told Universe Today. "This is an inevitable technology; it's going to happen. If we can put solar panels in space where the sun shines 24 hours a day, if we have a safe way of transmitting the energy to Earth and broadcasting it anywhere, that is a serious game changer." If everything falls into place for this company, they could be producing commercially available SBSP within a decade.
(...)
Read the rest of New Company Looks to Produce Space Based Solar Power Within a Decade (1,630 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh