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
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, September 16
Firefly Aerospace to Announce Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results on September 22, 2025
Firefly Aerospace — 6:45 am ET (1045 GMT) Starlink hits capacity in Nigeria’s largest cities, raising questions about Musk’s Africa ambitions
Business Insider — 6:43 am ET (1043 GMT) Colorado Springs looks to rebound after Trump pulls Space Command to Huntsville
Washington Examiner — 6:42 am ET (1042 GMT) Colorado’s Republican U.S. representatives decline to fight Trump on Space Command, even as they risk voter fallout
Colorado Sun — 6:42 am ET (1042 GMT) Sen. John Hoeven upon satellite launch: ‘We expect this mission to continue growing’
Grand Forks (ND) Herald — 6:41 am ET (1041 GMT) |
