September 30th, 2009
GOCE Satellite Begins Mapping Earth's Gravity in Lower Orbit Than Expected
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.
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Filed under: Earth Observation, Satellites | 6 Comments »
