Aqua (satellite)
Aqua ( Latin for water), also known as EOS -PM1 is a started on May 4, 2002 Research satellite of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA, which is to explore the complex processes in the ecosystem of the earth.
Aqua is part of the Earth Observing System (EOS ), a comprehensive number of missions, longer- term research program of NASA. The five satellites Aqua, Aura, CloudSat, PARASOL and CALIPSO together form the A-Train. Aqua cost $ 1 billion.
Information on the orbit
The satellite moves in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit. Thanks to this trajectory is Aqua and Terra satellite launched in 1999 complement each other, so that the same areas can be observed at different times in order to, for example, track the amount of precipitation more closely.
His secondary name EOS -PM1 is derived from the fact that the equatorial crossing time of the satellite falls on the afternoon.
For example, he flew in October 2002, the Aral Sea area and took pictures of him (see web link).
Mission
Aqua's main mission objective is to large amounts of information about evaporation, clouds and rainfall, the amount of water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere and to win over the aerosols, but also on the temperature of the water and the surface of the sea and land ice. In addition, Aqua has the task to investigate changes in the currents in the oceans and is thus intended to improve understanding of the effects of clouds, the surface water and its influence on the Earth's climate.
With this information, forecasts should be improved to changes in the global ecosystem and the global climate. The accuracy of weather forecasts should be increased with the help of this satellite.
The satellite
Aqua has a size of 4.8 meters x 16.7 meters x 8.0 meters and a mass of 3117 kg. It carries also 230 kg fuel for course corrections. With the aid of large solar panels 4,4 kW of electrical power are generated in order to provide the six scientific instruments with energy.
Instruments
Aqua is equipped with six measuring instruments that have different characteristics: