[ad_1]
The Michael Freilich Sentinel-6 satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California on November 21. NASA’s Eyes visualization tools allow you to follow the spacecraft at the start of its mission to measure sea level elevation as it orbits Earth. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Rendered in jaw-dropping detail, the spacecraft avatar also includes the tools it will use to measure sea level height and collect atmospheric data.
With a click of the mouse, you can rotate the satellite to see it from any angle, watch it fly over Earth in real time, or speed it up to see its entire five-and-a-half-year mission unfold over a matter of minutes.
“What we create for Eyes is an engineering model of the real thing. You can get lost in the details, not just in how sunlight reflects off the spacecraft’s solar panels, but also in how you can track its exact position in orbit. “, said Jason Craig, a display maker at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
“We have been streaming data from near and far space missions and we have put this data to work. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is just the latest spaceship to be added to the growing number of missions “Craig said.
Information about the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will be followed by his twin Sentinel-6B in 2025. Together, they form the Sentinel-6 / Jason-CS mission, which was developed by ESA (European Space Agency) in the context of the European Copernicus program led by the European Commission , the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with financial support from the European Commission and technical support from the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES) .
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, has built three scientific instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Occultation and the Laser Retroreflector Array. NASA has also contributed launch services, ground systems that support the operation of NASA’s scientific instruments, scientific data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the international ocean surface topographic science team.
The launch was managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
For more information on Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, please visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/sentinel-6
https://www.esa.int/Sentinel-6
https://edefis.eu/CopernicusFactsheets
Related stories
Sections
Technology
Themes
Caltech, Earth, ESA, European Space Agency, NASA, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Pasadena CA, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket, Vandenberg Air Force Base