Topic: ISS-RapidScat

NASA’s International Space Station Rapid Scatterometer instrument ends operations

November 29, 2016 |

Written by Carol Rasmussen
NASA Earth Science News Team

Washington, D.C. – NASA’s International Space Station Rapid Scatterometer (ISS-RapidScat) Earth science instrument has ended operations following a successful two-year mission aboard the space station. The mission launched September 21st, 2014, and had recently passed its original decommissioning date.

ISS-RapidScat used the unique vantage point of the space station to provide near-real-time monitoring of ocean winds, which are critical in determining regional weather patterns. Its measurements of wind speed and direction over the ocean surface have been used by agencies worldwide for weather and marine forecasting and tropical cyclone monitoring.

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument (inset). (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument being looked at after two power anomalies

September 10, 2016 |

Written by Alan Buis
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Mission managers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, are assessing two power system-related anomalies affecting the operation of NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument aboard the International Space Station. RapidScat measures surface wind speeds and directions over the ocean.

RapidScat is currently deactivated and in a stable configuration. A RapidScat project anomaly response team has been formed, working in conjunction with the space station anomaly response team. RapidScat will remain deactivated as the investigation continues.

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument (inset), which launched to the International Space Station in 2014 to measure ocean surface wind speed and direction and help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument completes one year of service

November 8, 2015 |

Written by Elizabeth Landau
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Where do predictions for regional weather patterns come from? For one source, look to the ocean. About 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered in oceans, and changes in ocean winds are good predictors of many weather phenomena on small and large scales.

NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument, which last month celebrated its one-year anniversary, helps make these ocean wind measurements to enhance weather forecasting and understanding of climate. The instrument was first activated on the International Space Station on October 1st, 2014.

RapidScat’s antenna, lower right, was pointed at Hurricane Patricia as the powerful storm approached Mexico on Oct. 23, 2015. (NASA)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s RapidScat on International Space Station gathering data on Tropical Cyclones

April 26, 2015 |

Written by Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD – The ISS-RapidScat instrument has been in orbit seven months, and forecasters are already finding this new eye-in-the-sky helpful as they keep watch on major storms around the globe.

RapidScat measures Earth’s ocean surface wind speed and direction over open waters. The instrument’s data on ocean winds provide essential measurements for researchers and scientists to use in weather predictions, including hurricane monitoring.

On Jan. 28, 2015 from 2:41 to 4:14 UTC, ISS-RapidScat saw the nor’easter’s strongest sustained winds (red) between 56 and 67 mph (25 to 30 mps/90 to 108 kph) just off-shore from eastern Cape Cod. (NASA JPL/Doug Tyler)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA has launched Five Earth Missions in the last year

February 24, 2015 |

Written by Alan Buis
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Over the past 12 months NASA has added five missions to its orbiting Earth-observing fleet – the biggest one-year increase in more than a decade. NASA scientists will discuss early observations from the new missions and their current status during a media teleconference at 11:00am PST (2:00pm EST) Thursday, February 26th.

New views of global carbon dioxide, rain and snowfall, ocean winds, and aerosol particles in the atmosphere will be presented during the briefing.

Five new Earth science missions have joined NASA’s orbiting fleet since the launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission one year ago. (NASA)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA monitors Severe Holiday Weather from Space

December 25, 2014 |

Written by Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Greenbelt, MD – Severe weather in the form of tornadoes is not something people expect on Christmas week but a storm system on December 23rd brought tornadoes to Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana. As the storm moved, NASA’s RapidScat captured data on winds while NOAA’s GOES satellite tracked the movement of the system.

NASA’s RapidScat instrument flies aboard the International Space Station and captured a look at some of the high winds from the storms that brought severe weather to the U.S. Gulf Coast on December 23rd. In addition, an animation of images from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite showed the movement of those storms and other weather systems from Canada to South America from December 21st to 24th.

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA to send additional Earth Science Instruments to International Space Station

September 26, 2014 |

Written by Dr. Tony Phillips
Science at NASA

Washington, D.C. – The International Space Station has been called a stepping stone to other worlds.

NASA hasn’t forgotten, however, that the behemoth space station is also on the doorstep of Earth.

“We’re seeing the space station come into its own as an Earth-observing platform,” says Julie Robinson, chief scientist for the International Space Station Program. “It has a different orbit than other Earth-observing satellites. It’s closer to Earth, and it sees Earth at different times of day with a different schedule.”

«Read the rest of this article»

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft launches taking NASA’s RapidScat to International Space Station

September 22, 2014 |

Written by Alan Buis
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – A new NASA mission that will boost global monitoring of ocean winds for improved weather forecasting and climate studies is among about 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms) of NASA science investigations and cargo now on their way to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

The cargo ship launched on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:52pm PDT Saturday, September 20th (1:52am EDT Sunday, September 21st).

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, the nine rocket engines roar to life on the Falcon launch vehicle. (NASA)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA ready to Launch ISS-RapidScat on Saturday, September 20th

September 15, 2014 |

Written by Alan Buis
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – The fourth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract, carrying the ISS-RapidScat scatterometer instrument designed and built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is scheduled to launch Saturday, September 20th, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The one-day adjustment in the launch date was made to accommodate preparations of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and was coordinated with the station’s partners and managers.

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s ISS-RapidScat instrument (inset), which will launch to the International Space Station in 2014 to measure ocean surface wind speed and direction and help improve weather forecasts, including hurricane monitoring. It will be installed on the end of the station’s Columbus laboratory. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center)

«Read the rest of this article»

NASA’s RapidScat scatterometer to be robotically assembled at International Space Station

September 8, 2014 |

Written by Alan Buis
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s ISS-RapidScat wind-watching scatterometer, which is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station no earlier than September 19th, will be the first science payload to be robotically assembled in space since the space station itself.

This image shows the instrument assembly on the left, shrouded in white. On the right is Rapid-Scat’s nadir adapter, a very sophisticated bracket that points the scatterometer toward Earth so that it can record the direction and speed of ocean winds. The two pieces are stowed in the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

RapidScat’s two-part payload is shown in the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA)

«Read the rest of this article»

© 2006-2021 Clarksville, TN Online is owned and operated by residents of Clarksville Tennessee.
» We are Hosted by Compu-Net Enterprises; In Partnership with Discover Clarksville and Discover Paris