QuikSCAT

Information about QuikSCAT

QuikSCAT

QuikSCAT
OrganizationJPL, NASA
Mission TypeEarth observation
ContractorBall Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Satellite ofEarth
LaunchJune 19, 1999 on a Titan II
Launch siteVandenberg Air Force Base
Mission duration2–3 years
Mass971 kg (launch)
Webpagewinds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/
Orbital elements
Semimajor Axis7180.8 km
Eccentricity0.00014
Inclination98.6 degrees
Orbital Period100.93 minutes
Right ascension of the ascending node178.47 degrees
Argument of perigee47.4 degrees
Instruments
SeaWindsmicrowave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction


The QuikSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) is an earth-observing satellite that provides wind speed and direction information over oceans to NOAA. It is a "quick recovery" mission to fill the gap created by the loss of data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) that was lost in June 1997. It is in a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit.

In light of the 2003 failure of the ADEOS II satellite that was meant to succeed the NSCAT, QuickSCAT is currently the only US-owned instrument in orbit that measures surface winds over the oceans.[1] The European Space Agency has its own scatterometers in orbit, such as Envisat.

However, because it is now running on a backup transmitter and having other problems, this satellite could fail at any moment, jeopardizing weather forecasts for potentially dangerous tropical storms.[2]

In early June 2007, Bill Proenza, Director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida, came under fire for criticizing his NOAA superiors for not pursuing a back-up plan for replacing the capabilities provided by this satellite.[3]

References

1. ^ "Aging satellite worries hurricane forecasters", MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 2007-03-16. Retrieved on 2007-06-17. 
2. ^ Gresko, Jessica. "Hurricane Satellite Could Fail Anytime", San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, 2007-06-14, pp. A17. Retrieved on 2007-06-14. 
3. ^ Merzer, Martin. "Candid storm chief gets a lashing", The Miami Herald, The Miami Herald, 2007-06-16. Retrieved on 2007-06-17. 

See also

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (website)
Current missionsACRIMSAT – AIRS – ASTER – Cassini-Huygens – GALEX – GRACE – Jason 1 – Keck Interferometer Mars Odyssey – MER – MGS – MISR – MLS – MRO – QuikSCAT – Rosetta – Spitzer – TES TOPEX/Poseidon – Ulysses – Voyager – WFPC
Past missionsDeep Impact – Deep Space 1 – Deep Space 2 – Explorer – Galileo – Genesis – IRAS – Magellan Mariner – Mars Climate Orbiter – Mars Observer – Mars Pathfinder – Mars Polar Lander – NSCAT Pioneer – Ranger – Seasat – SIR – SME – SRTM – Stardust – Surveyor – SVLBI – Viking – WIRE
Future missionsDawn – Herschel Space Observatory – Kepler – LBT – Phoenix – MSL – AFL
Related organizationsCaltech – NASA – Deep Space Network – Goldstone Complex
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. Managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), it builds and operates unmanned spacecraft for the National
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Earth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed to observe Earth from orbit, similar to reconnaissance satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc.
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Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (commonly Ball Aerospace) is a manufacturer of spacecraft, components, and instruments for national defense, civil space and commercial space applications. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ball Corp.
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The Titan II was an ICBM and space launcher developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II

Launch of a Titan II ICBM from underground silo 395-Charlie at Vandenberg AFB, CA in the mid-1960s.
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Vandenberg Air Force Base (IATA: VBG, ICAO: KVBG, FAA LID: VBG) is a United States military installation with a spaceport, in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the base population was 6,151.
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semi-major axis (also semimajor axis) is used to describe the dimensions of ellipses and hyperbolae.

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The major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape.
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orbit's eccentricity, is an important parameter of the orbit that defines its absolute shape. Eccentricity may be interpreted as a measure of how much this shape deviates from a circle.
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Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.
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Right ascension (abbrev. RA; symbol α) is the astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system. The other coordinate is the declination.
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An orbital node is one of the two points where an orbit crosses a plane of reference which it is inclined to.[1] An orbit which is contained in the plane of reference (called non-inclined) has no nodes.
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The argument of periapsis (ω) is the orbital element describing the angle of an orbiting body's periapsis (the point of closest approach to the central body), relative to its ascending node (the point where the body crosses the plane of reference from South to North).
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A radar scatterometer is designed to determine the normalized radar cross section (sigma-0) of the surface. Scatterometers operate by transmitting a pulse of microwave energy towards the Earth's surface and measuring the reflected energy.
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sun-synchronous orbit (sometimes incorrectly called a heliosynchronous orbit) is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit passes over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local solar time.
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The Envisat (Environmental Satellite) satellite is an Earth-observing satellite built by the European Space Agency. It was launched on March 1, 2002 aboard an Ariane 5 into a Sun synchronous polar orbit at a height of 790 km (±10 km).
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backup refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. These additional copies are typically called "backups." Backups are useful primarily for two purposes.
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transmitter (sometimes abbreviated XMTR) is an electronic device which with the aid of an antenna propagates an electromagnetic signal such as radio, television, or other telecommunications.
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Xavier William Proenza (also known as Bill Proenza) served as the director of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) from January 4, 2007[1] to July 9, 2007. He previously served as the Southern Region Director of the National Weather Service from 1999 to 2007.
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