OrbitalHub

ESA dixit:

“This timelapse video shows Sentinel-5P satellite, from final preparations to liftoff on a Rockot launcher, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, on 13 October 2017.

The Sentinels are a fleet of satellites designed to deliver the wealth of data and imagery that are central to the European Commission’s Copernicus programme. This unique environmental monitoring programme is providing a step change in the way we view and manage our environment, understand and tackle the effects of climate change and safeguard everyday lives.

Sentinel-5 Precursor – also known as Sentinel-5P – is the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere. The satellite carries the state-of-the-art Tropomi instrument to map a multitude of trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and aerosols – all of which affect the air we breathe and therefore our health, and our climate.

With a swath width of 2600 km, it will map the entire planet every day. Information from this new mission will be used through the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service for air quality forecasts and for decision-making. The mission will also contribute to services such as volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and for services that warn of high levels of UV radiation, which can cause skin damage. In addition, scientists will also use the data to improve our knowledge of important processes in the atmosphere related to the climate and to the formation of holes in the ozone layer.

Sentinel-5P was developed to reduce data gaps between the Envisat satellite – in particular the Sciamachy instrument – and the launch of Sentinel-5, and to complement GOME-2 on MetOp. In the future, both the geostationary Sentinel-4 and polar-orbiting Sentinel-5 missions will monitor the composition of the atmosphere for Copernicus Atmosphere Services. Both missions will be carried on meteorological satellites operated by Eumetsat. Until then, the Sentinel-5P mission will play a key role in monitoring and tracking air pollution.”

Video credit: ESA

Wikipedia dixit:

“ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat-2 is a planned follow-on to the ICESat mission. It will be launched in 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 496 km. It is being designed to operate for 3 years, and will carry enough propellant for 7 years.

The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation canopy information. It will provide topography measurements of cities, lakes and reservoirs, oceans and land surfaces around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage.

The ICESat-2 project is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The sole instrument is being designed and built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the bus is being provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. As of November 2017 this is the last planned launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.

The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a space-based LIDAR. ATLAS will time the flight of laser photons from the satellite to Earth and back; computer programs will use the travel time from multiple pulses to determine elevation. The ATLAS laser will emit visible laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The laser is being developed and built by Fibertek, Inc. As ICESat-2 orbits, the ATLAS will generate six beams arranged in three pairs, with the pairs 3.3 km apart, in order to better determine the surface’s slope and provide more ground coverage. ATLAS will take elevation measurements every 70 cm along the satellite’s ground path. The laser will fire at a rate of 10 kHz. Each pulse sends out about 20 trillion photons, almost all of which are dispersed or deflected as the pulse travels to Earth’s surface and bounces back to the satellite. About a dozen photons from each pulse return to the instrument and are collected in a beryllium telescope.”

Music: “Cristal Delight,” Fred Dubois, Killer Tracks

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer

Kate Ramsayer (Telophase Corp.): Lead Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Animator

Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator

Thorsten Markus (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Thomas A. Neumann Ph.D. (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Editor

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Narrator

Jefferson Beck (USRA): Lead Videographer

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer

John Caldwell (AIMM): Lead Videographer

Chris Meaney (KBRwyle): Lead Animator

Video credit: NASA Goddard

Wikipedia dixit:

“ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat-2 is a planned follow-on to the ICESat mission. It will be launched in 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 496 km. It is being designed to operate for 3 years, and will carry enough propellant for 7 years.

The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation canopy information. It will provide topography measurements of cities, lakes and reservoirs, oceans and land surfaces around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage.

The ICESat-2 project is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The sole instrument is being designed and built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the bus is being provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. As of November 2017 this is the last planned launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.

The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a space-based LIDAR. ATLAS will time the flight of laser photons from the satellite to Earth and back; computer programs will use the travel time from multiple pulses to determine elevation. The ATLAS laser will emit visible laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The laser is being developed and built by Fibertek, Inc. As ICESat-2 orbits, the ATLAS will generate six beams arranged in three pairs, with the pairs 3.3 km apart, in order to better determine the surface’s slope and provide more ground coverage. ATLAS will take elevation measurements every 70 cm along the satellite’s ground path. The laser will fire at a rate of 10 kHz. Each pulse sends out about 20 trillion photons, almost all of which are dispersed or deflected as the pulse travels to Earth’s surface and bounces back to the satellite. About a dozen photons from each pulse return to the instrument and are collected in a beryllium telescope.”

Music: “Cristal Delight,” Fred Dubois, Killer Tracks

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer

Kate Ramsayer (Telophase Corp.): Lead Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Animator

Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator

Thorsten Markus (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Thomas A. Neumann Ph.D. (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Editor

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Narrator

Jefferson Beck (USRA): Lead Videographer

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer

John Caldwell (AIMM): Lead Videographer

Chris Meaney (KBRwyle): Lead Animator

Video credit: NASA Goddard

Wikipedia dixit:

“ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat-2 is a planned follow-on to the ICESat mission. It will be launched in 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 496 km. It is being designed to operate for 3 years, and will carry enough propellant for 7 years.

The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation canopy information. It will provide topography measurements of cities, lakes and reservoirs, oceans and land surfaces around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage.

The ICESat-2 project is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The sole instrument is being designed and built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the bus is being provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. As of November 2017 this is the last planned launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.

The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a space-based LIDAR. ATLAS will time the flight of laser photons from the satellite to Earth and back; computer programs will use the travel time from multiple pulses to determine elevation. The ATLAS laser will emit visible laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The laser is being developed and built by Fibertek, Inc. As ICESat-2 orbits, the ATLAS will generate six beams arranged in three pairs, with the pairs 3.3 km apart, in order to better determine the surface’s slope and provide more ground coverage. ATLAS will take elevation measurements every 70 cm along the satellite’s ground path. The laser will fire at a rate of 10 kHz. Each pulse sends out about 20 trillion photons, almost all of which are dispersed or deflected as the pulse travels to Earth’s surface and bounces back to the satellite. About a dozen photons from each pulse return to the instrument and are collected in a beryllium telescope.”

Music: “Cristal Delight,” Fred Dubois, Killer Tracks

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer

Kate Ramsayer (Telophase Corp.): Lead Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Animator

Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator

Thorsten Markus (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Thomas A. Neumann Ph.D. (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Editor

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Narrator

Jefferson Beck (USRA): Lead Videographer

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer

John Caldwell (AIMM): Lead Videographer

Chris Meaney (KBRwyle): Lead Animator

Video credit: NASA Goddard

Wikipedia dixit:

“ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2), part of NASA’s Earth Observing System, is a planned satellite mission for measuring ice sheet elevation, sea ice freeboard as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. ICESat-2 is a planned follow-on to the ICESat mission. It will be launched in 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 496 km. It is being designed to operate for 3 years, and will carry enough propellant for 7 years.

The ICESat-2 mission is designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as vegetation canopy information. It will provide topography measurements of cities, lakes and reservoirs, oceans and land surfaces around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage.

The ICESat-2 project is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The sole instrument is being designed and built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the bus is being provided by Orbital ATK. The satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. As of November 2017 this is the last planned launch of the Delta ll launch vehicle.

The sole instrument on ICESat-2 will be the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), a space-based LIDAR. ATLAS will time the flight of laser photons from the satellite to Earth and back; computer programs will use the travel time from multiple pulses to determine elevation. The ATLAS laser will emit visible laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The laser is being developed and built by Fibertek, Inc. As ICESat-2 orbits, the ATLAS will generate six beams arranged in three pairs, with the pairs 3.3 km apart, in order to better determine the surface’s slope and provide more ground coverage. ATLAS will take elevation measurements every 70 cm along the satellite’s ground path. The laser will fire at a rate of 10 kHz. Each pulse sends out about 20 trillion photons, almost all of which are dispersed or deflected as the pulse travels to Earth’s surface and bounces back to the satellite. About a dozen photons from each pulse return to the instrument and are collected in a beryllium telescope.”

Music: “Cristal Delight,” Fred Dubois, Killer Tracks

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Producer

Kate Ramsayer (Telophase Corp.): Lead Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Writer

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Animator

Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator

Thorsten Markus (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Thomas A. Neumann Ph.D. (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Editor

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Lead Narrator

Jefferson Beck (USRA): Lead Videographer

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer

John Caldwell (AIMM): Lead Videographer

Chris Meaney (KBRwyle): Lead Animator

Video credit: NASA Goddard

ESA dixit:

“[This is a] Video showing a test of the mechanisms steering the four solar electric propulsion thrusters on BepiColombo’s Mercury Transfer Module (speeded up by 20 times). The module will use a combination of electric propulsion and multiple gravity assists at Earth, Venus and Mercury to carry BepiColombo’s two scientificorbiters – ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter – to the innermost planet in our Solar System.

The test is designed to demonstrate that the mechanisms can reach their full steering range. The thruster mechanisms control the steering of the spacecraft during the long thrust arcs of the 7.2 year cruise to Mercury and as such are used for navigation, attitude control, and reaction wheel off-loading. Together with the onboard software, the mechanisms will update the direction of the thrust vector every five minutes relative to the spacecraft’s evolving centre of gravity. The thrusters will be fired for several months at a time between the gravity assist flybys.

This particular test was conducted in April 2017, before the spacecraft was put into the composite stack configuration. The same test will be repeated again later in the year to verify performance after the stack level vibration test campaign.”

Video credit: ESA