It monitors volcanic eruptions, among many other objectives and provides high resolution imagery of locations all over the world. ASTER, a collaborative instrument with Japan and the United States, is one of five instruments on Terra. The science gained from calibrating Terra’s data against deep space allowed the scientists to improve the data collected by the ASTER instrument. The calibration maneuver was executed successfully and the team never had to conduct their contingency plan. “We had to take into account what would happen if the computer were to fail when we were pointed at deep space,” Hendrickson said. The satellite turned to look at deep space, instead of at Earth. For example, in 2017 the team executed the second lunar deep space calibration maneuver in Terra’s lifetime. However, most of the time, they don’t have to wait for a system failure to practice contingency plans. Not only does the team plan for many possible scenarios, but it also looks back at the response and figures out how it can be improved. “You can’t just go to the garage and swap out parts.”
“We are always thinking, if this were to fail, how are we going to respond?” Hendrickson said. Terra engineers and scientists continually plan for worst-case scenarios, anticipating problems that may never develop.
#Terramodel users group Offline#
The offline Terra mission operations team stands in front of an image of the fleet of NASA Earth Observing Satellites. Unlike many previous, smaller satellites, Terra didn’t have a previously launched satellite platform to build upon. It was one of the first satellites to study Earth system science, and the first to look at land, water and the atmosphere at the same time. Overall it all has to be coordinated, so one activity doesn’t negatively impact another instrument,” said Moyer, who worked on Terra during construction and continues to be involved with its operations today.ĭimitrios Mantziaras, Terra mission director at Goddard, summed up what it takes: “A well-built spacecraft, talented people running it and making great science products, with lots of people using the data, that’s what has kept Terra running all these years.” Designing a pioneer “The Terra team includes flight operations, subsystem engineers, subject matter experts, the instrument teams and the science teams for each of the instruments.
Terra’s test team stands in front of the satellite during its construction and testing phase.
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