US-French earth observation satellite mission ends
Posted: Thu, Jul 4, 2013, 9:25 AM ET (1325 GMT)
A Franco-American satellite that has observed the Earth's oceans for over a decade was formally retired this week after a transmitter failure. NASA and the French space agency CNES jointly developed the Jason-1 satellite, launched in December 2001 by a Delta 2 rocket, to measure sea levels, wind speeds, and wave heights over most of the world's oceans. Controllers lost contact with Jason-1 on June 21 after the last scheduled communications pass indicated no problems with the spacecraft. Engineers believe that last working transmitter on the spacecraft failed, preventing the spacecraft from communicating with the ground. Jason-1 was designed to last three to five years. A successor spacecraft, Jason-2, is providing similar data, while Jason-3 is under development for launch in 2015.
A Franco-American satellite that has observed the Earth's oceans for over a decade was formally retired this week after a transmitter failure. NASA and the French space agency CNES jointly developed the Jason-1 satellite, launched in December 2001 by a Delta 2 rocket, to measure sea levels, wind speeds, and wave heights over most of the world's oceans. Controllers lost contact with Jason-1 on June 21 after the last scheduled communications pass indicated no problems with the spacecraft. Engineers believe that last working transmitter on the spacecraft failed, preventing the spacecraft from communicating with the ground. Jason-1 was designed to last three to five years. A successor spacecraft, Jason-2, is providing similar data, while Jason-3 is under development for launch in 2015.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, July 27
Nvidia is sending GPUs to the moon
TechCrunch — 5:47 am ET (0947 GMT) SpaceX plans Starship tower catch for next test flight, Elon Musk announces
KVEO-TV Rio Grande Valley, TX — 5:42 am ET (0942 GMT) An abandoned SpaceX rocket is about to crash into the Moon. The real problem comes next
The Conversation — 5:42 am ET (0942 GMT) European SpaceX Rival in Talks to Raise $300 Million, FT Reports
Bloomberg News — 5:42 am ET (0942 GMT) Musk’s SpaceX tumbles back to Earth, dragging Tesla stock down with it
Washington Post — 5:40 am ET (0940 GMT) |
