Seven months ago, a #NASA #satellite launched into space with the goal of mapping global soil moisture, as part of the #SMAP mission. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/03/nasa-smap-satellite123/

Seven months ago, a NASA satellite launched into space with the goal of mapping global soil moisture. Since that initial venture, the floating mechanism has lost the use of its radar, one of the satellite’s two science instruments.

WHAT HAPPENED TO NASA’S SMAP MISSION?

The radar is part of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, which launched on January 31st. Costing $916 million, it continues to provide the space agency with imperative measurements to help scientists understand the relationship between energy, carbon cycles and Earth’s water, according to Space Daily. The information is especially crucial as the Earth increasingly experiences climatic variations and unpredictable fluctuations due to the effects of climatic change and global warming.

Most importantly, SMAP will enhance our ability to understand and predict the onset of natural weather hazards, such as droughts and floods. The mission, however, may also provide data for several “practical applications,” such as crop yield predictions and more accurate weather forecasting. To date, the SMAP mission has collected over four months of data, and on April 21st, it also released its first global maps of soil moisture.

According to Financial Express, the radar stopped transmitting on July 7 due to an amplifier problem. On Aug. 24^th, NASA attempted to restore the device to no avail. Since that failed attempt, the space agency announced in a statement that the instrument was not recoverable.

Regardless, operations will continue to take place: “Although some of the planned applications of SMAP data will be impacted by the loss of the radar, the SMAP mission will continue to produce valuable science for important Earth system studies,” stated Dara Entekhabi, SMAP Science Team lead at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

In the meantime, scientists are planning on releasing data on beta-quality soil moisture towards the end of September. Whether or not the technical malfunction will impede this proposal remains a question left to be answered.

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Thanks to NASA missions, we are able to learn more about space. Space Scouts Summer Adventure helps too:

NASA SMAP Satellite Loses Its Science Instrument

%Now, ten years after Katrina, #NASA plans to deploy eight microsatellites in space to help forecast any incoming #hurricane.% - http://clapway.com/2015/08/22/nasa-hurricane-tracking-microsatellites-110/

Over the years the technology that offers information on weather prediction has improved, but we are still missing accurate measurements to help us predict how intense the storms are going to be.  Now, ten years after Hurricane Katrina, NASA plans to deploy eight microsatellites in space to help forecast incoming hurricanes.

HOW WILL THEY TRACK A HURRICANE?

The microsatellites will orbit 317 miles above the Earth and will be positioned 35 degrees to the equator, measuring the oceans surface winds in the eye of a storm. The first test mission is going to launch in late 2016 from Florida and the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), NASA’s weather prediction project, will be the first to study the interior of a hurricane. This mission is going to provide the space agency with more detailed information on the rapid intensification of the hurricanes.

The technique used in the past to measure wind speed over the oceans is called scatterometry for which a satellite sends a signal to the ground to measure its strength once reflected back. However, this technique is more expensive than the one being developed right now by the University of Michigan, because the microsatellites will only receive signals from GPS satellites already in orbit around Earth. Those signals will bounce off of ocean surfaces measuring the height of waves and the speed of the wind of a hurricane. The data will be shared with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) helping emergency managers make decisions during extreme weather conditions.

NASA HAS STARTED DEVELOPMENT

The eight satellites will extend the range on Earth that can be measured and they are going to be deployed separately around our planet. Also, the first microsatellite, which weighs about 64 pounds, began assembly on August 14th. The other seven are to follow in the next few weeks.

Their initial testing is scheduled for early 2016 and the authorities are hoping that they are going to be fully operational by 2017’s Atlantic hurricane season.

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START THE DAY RIGHT WITH THE SMELL OF MONEY.

NASA Developing Hurricane-Tracking Microsatellites

Keeping an eye on space is looking like a good idea. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/24/the-pentagon-is-preparing-for-space-wars-234/

The U.S. military is looking to the future of combat, which, of course, will entail space wars.

SPACE-WAR CENTER

The impending need to deal with real-life star wars has the Pentagon rushing to open its space wars center.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work discussed the operations center on Tuesday, June 23 at the GEOINT intelligence conference in Washington, DC. The center will receive data from U.S. satellites, both military and government. By tracking all these satellites, the hope is to be better prepared for collaborative efforts in determining the best response to attacks on any satellite.

The military already tracks its satellites at the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. But the new space wars center will compliment its efforts.

Pentagon and U.S. intelligence officials are reportedly finalizing the details of this ops center that Work says will be operational within six months.

SPOTTING THREATS ON THE GROUND

The space wars center will obviously focus on threats to its space-based assets. But it will also use data from the satellite nexus to spot threats on the ground. Providing an example, Work stated, “If, all of a sudden, a lot of cars show up in a parking lot of an adversary’s missile plant, we want to know about it and we want to know about it quickly.” He continued, “If, suddenly, small boats are swarming in the Gulf or pirates are starting to congregate off Aden, we want to know.”

A TACTICAL POSITION IN SPACE

With the developments in technology, and with more countries having an increased presence in space, Work suggests that space must “be considered a contested operational domain in ways that we haven’t had to think about in the past.”

The new ops center is just one element in the United States’ objective to ramp up its preparations for space wars. Existing budgets include tens of millions of dollars for communications satellites, space-based reconnaissance tools, and funding for “space situational awareness.”

The Air Force’s mysterious X-37b spaceplane has launched on four separate missions, each containing secret payloads. Many suspect that this spaceplane has been deploying secret spy satellites or even space-based weapons.

It’s all speculation for now. But the military is focused on gaining a military advantage, and they see space as the way to gain it.

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Gear up with Urban Armor for war on your smartphone:

The Pentagon is Preparing for Space Wars

A successful launch for Sentinel 2-A. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/23/the-esas-sentinel-2a-earth-observation-satellite-successfully-launches-345/

An optical Earth observation satellite successfully launched into space late on Monday, June 22, 2015.

MISSION IS A GO

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-2A blasted into space aboard a Vega rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana at 10:51 p.m. local time.

After a flight time of slightly more than an hour, the satellite was deployed and its solar panel was extended. Sentinel-2A, developed and constructed for the ESA by Airbus Defence and Space, is ready to begin its mission of observing Earth from its polar orbit approximately 484 miles above the Earth’s surface.

WATCHING FROM ABOVE

Sentinel-2A is the first in a pair of optical Earth observation satellites that are central to the ESA’s Copernicus program, formerly known as the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program (GMES). According to the ESA, this is the most ambitious Earth observation program ever conducted.

The ESA describes that its Copernicus program “will provide accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security.”

The high-resolution multispectral imager aboard the Sentinel-2A observation satellite will provide scientists with an unprecedented level of detail, and will be able to observe plant growth, monitor forests, and provide information about water pollution. And, through the mapping of natural disasters like volcano eruptions, floods, and landslides, Sentinel-2 will be a great tool to assist with disaster relief efforts.

The ESA plans to launch Sentinel-2B in mid-2016.

JUST GETTING STARTED

The Sentinel-1A satellite was launched in 2014 (with 1B scheduled for launch in 2016). Although 2A just launched, the program is just getting started. There are a total of six pairs of satellites slated for the Copernicus program, which will essentially create a nexus of space-based environmental management tools.

Through the various Sentinel satellite pairs, this ambitious program hopes to gain a wealth of data in order to better monitor weather, atmospheric conditions, surface temperatures, and ocean conditions and topography.

The mission is a partnership between the ESA and the European Commission.

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Launch yourself on the Original Penny Skateboard!:

The ESA’s Sentinel-2A Earth Observation Satellite Successfully Launches