Tag: Oceanography

  • Oceanography satellite ends 11-year mission

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Artist’s concept of the Jason 2 spacecraft in orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech A joint U.S.-European satellite mission that measured rising sea levels for 11 years is ending due to the deteriorating condition of the spacecraft’s power system, officials said Friday. The Jason 2 satellite was designed to operate for three to five years, but it outlived…

  • Chinese oceanography satellite launches successfully

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    A Long March 4B rocket launches with the Haiyang 2B oceanography satellite. Credit: Chinanews.com China’s Haiyang 2B oceanography satellite, the follow-on to a space mission launched seven years ago, lifted off Wednesday from the country’s Taiyuan launch base aboard a Long March 4B booster. The nearly 150-foot-tall (45-meter) Long March 4B rocket fired its four…

  • China launches satellite to monitor world’s oceans

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    A Chinese Long March 2C rocket lifted off Friday with the Haiyang 1C ocean observation satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese marine observation satellite designed to monitor ocean pollution, measure sea temperatures and track ship movements successfully launched Friday on top of a Long March 2C rocket. The Haiyang 1C spacecraft lifted off at 0315 GMT…

  • Jason 3 satellite begins surveying world’s oceans

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Artist’s concept of the Jason 3 satellite mapping the ocean surface with its radar altimeter. Credit: NASA Two months after its foggy blastoff from California on a Falcon 9 rocket, a $364 million oceanography satellite has returned the first data from its radar altimeter mapping global sea levels, catching this year’s ongoing El Niño in the…

  • Look back on the blastoff of a Russian missile-turned-launcher

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    A Soviet-era missile originally built to deliver nuclear warheads to the United States in wartime fired into space for a much different purpose Tuesday, carrying a European environmental satellite into orbit to help track the effects of climate change. The 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Rockot booster lifted off at 1757 GMT (12:57 p.m. EST; 8:57 p.m. local…

  • European oceanography satellite rides Russian rocket into orbit

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    The Sentinel 3A satellite lifted off at 1757:40 GMT (12:57:40 p.m. EST). Credit: ESA Soaring into the night sky over a guarded Russian military base, a 1.2-ton European satellite rocketed into orbit Tuesday to regularly measure how the world’s oceans and ice sheets respond to climate change and drive global weather patterns. Valued at more…

  • Photos: Sentinel 3A prepared for liftoff

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Europe’s Sentinel 3A satellite, designed for real-time surveys of the world’s oceans, ice sheets, lakes and rivers, is attached to a decommissioned Russian nuclear missile for launch Tuesday. The 2,526-pound (1,146-kilogram) spacecraft is fitted inside the nose cone of a 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Rockot launcher at Complex 133 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military facility in…

  • Satellite primed for launch to survey oceans, ice sheets

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Artist’s view of the launch of Sentinel 3A aboard a Russian Rockot vehicle. This illustration depicts the Rockot’s payload fairing jettisoning a few minutes after liftoff, revealing Sentinel 3A. Credit: ESA–Pierre Carril Russian rocket technicians fueled a decommissioned ballistic missile with propellants Monday, a day ahead of the launch of a European satellite primed to…

  • Photos: Falcon 9 poised on hillside launch pad in California

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    The first Falcon 9 flight of 2016 is ready for takeoff Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and these photos show the rocket positioned on its launch mount overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The 224-foot-tall rocket will blast off at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at…

  • Ideal weather predicted for Falcon 9 launch Sunday

    —

    by

    starpathwp-production
    in

    Photo credit: SpaceX Meteorologists predict mostly sunny skies, mild temperatures and light winds Sunday for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast with a $364 million oceanography satellite for U.S. and European science institutions. The forecast is so favorable that U.S. Air Force meteorologists give a 100 percent chance of…