NASA Launches Ocean Satellite to Keep a Weather, Climate Eye Open
PASADENA, Calif. -- A new NASA-French space agency oceanography
satellite launched today from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.,
on a globe-circling voyage to continue charting sea level, a
vital indicator of global climate change. The mission will
return a vast amount of new data that will improve weather,
climate and ocean forecasts.
With a thunderous roar and fiery glow, the Ocean Surface Topography
Mission/Jason 2 satellite arced through the blackness of an early
central coastal California morning at 12:46 a.m. PDT, climbing
into space atop a Delta II rocket. Fifty-five minutes later,
OSTM/Jason 2 separated from the rocket's second stage, and then
unfurled its twin sets of solar arrays. Ground controllers successfully
acquired the spacecraft's signals. Initial telemetry reports show
it to be in excellent health.
"Sea-level measurements from space have come of age," said Michael
Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division in NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. "Precision measurements from this
mission will improve our knowledge of global and regional sea-level
changes and enable more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts."
Measurements of sea-surface height, or ocean surface topography,
reveal the speed and direction of ocean currents and tell scientists
how much of the sun's energy is stored by the ocean. Combining ocean
current and heat storage data is key to understanding global climate
variations. OSTM/Jason 2's expected lifetime of at least three years
will extend into the next decade the continuous record of these data
started in 1992 by NASA and the French space agency Centre National
d'Etudes Spatiales, or CNES, with the TOPEX/Poseidon mission. The
data collection was continued by the two agencies on Jason 1 in 2001.
The mission culminates more than three decades of research by NASA
and CNES in this field. This expertise will be passed on to the world's
weather and environmental forecasting agencies, which will be responsible
for collecting the data. The involvement of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Organisation for
the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) as mission
partners on OSTM/Jason 2 helps establish this proven research capability
as a valuable tool for use in everyday applications.
OSTM/Jason 2's five primary instruments are improved versions of those
flying on Jason 1. These technological advances will allow scientists
to monitor conditions in ocean coastal regions -- home to about half of
Earth's population. Compared with Jason 1 measurements, OSTM/Jason 2
will have substantially increased accuracy and provide data to within 25
kilometers (15 miles) of coastlines, nearly 50 percent closer to shore
than in the past. Such improvements will be welcome news for all those
making their living on the sea, from sailors and fishermen to workers in
offshore industries. NOAA will use the improved data to better predict
hurricane intensity, which is directly affected by the amount of heat
stored in the upper ocean.
OSTM/Jason 2 entered orbit about 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles)
below Jason 1. The new spacecraft will gradually use its thrusters to
raise itself into the same 1,336-kilometer (830-mile) orbital altitude
as Jason 1 and position itself to follow Jason 1's ground track, orbiting
about 60 seconds behind Jason 1. The two spacecraft will fly in formation,
making nearly simultaneous measurements for about six months to allow
scientists to precisely calibrate OSTM/Jason 2's instruments.
Once cross-calibration is complete, Jason 1 will alter course, adjusting
its orbit so that its ground tracks fall midway between those of
OSTM/Jason 2. Together, the two spacecraft will double global data coverage.
This tandem mission will improve our knowledge of tides in coastal and
shallow seas and internal tides in the open ocean, while improving our
understanding of ocean currents and eddies.
CNES is providing the OSTM/Jason 2 spacecraft. NASA and CNES jointly are
providing the primary payload instruments. NASA's Launch Services Program
at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was responsible for launch management
and countdown operations for the Delta II. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena, Calif., manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission
To learn more about OSTM/Jason 2, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ostm
JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Media contacts: Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Steve Cole 202-358-0918
NASA Headquarters, Washington