Posted: Mon, Nov 8, 2004, 8:28 AM ET (1328 GMT)
A Japanese instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft has suffered a problem that limits the data it returns, the Japanese space agency JAXA reported Friday. According to a JAXA statement the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) encountered a "data deficit" in one of its six channels on Thursday. The cause of the problem, and if and when it can be corrected, was not immediately known. AMSR-E observes the Earth at microwave wavelengths, measuring sea surface temperature, precipitation, and rainfall. The AMSR-E channel with the problem operates at 89 GHz; other channels at 6, 10, 18, 23, and 36 GHz continue to operate normally. The other instruments on Aqua, launched in 2002, are not affected by the AMSR-E problem.

Related Links:

•  JAXA press release