Landsat 5 returns to service
Posted: Sat, Jan 28, 2006, 10:45 AM ET (1545 GMT)
An aging remote sensing satellite that went offline in late 2005 has returned to normal operations. The US Geological Survey announced Friday that the Landsat 5 spacecraft has started taking imagery again of the United States, with international observations to resume in the coming weeks. The spacecraft had been knocked out of commission in late November because of a problem with a solar array drive motor that kept the solar array from generating enough power to operate the spacecraft's instruments. engineers have since made adjustments to the solar array system that have increased the amount of power it can generate to acceptable levels. Landsat 5, launched in March 1984, remains critical to earth scientists and others, because of the loss of Landsat 6 upon launch over a decade ago and instrument problems with Landsat 7, in orbit since 1999. The White House has directed the USGS and NASA to begin work on a "Landsat Data Continuity Mission", a spacecraft that would replace the two existing Landsat spacecraft, but experts fear both Landsat 5 and 7 could fail before that replacement spacecraft can be built and launched.
An aging remote sensing satellite that went offline in late 2005 has returned to normal operations. The US Geological Survey announced Friday that the Landsat 5 spacecraft has started taking imagery again of the United States, with international observations to resume in the coming weeks. The spacecraft had been knocked out of commission in late November because of a problem with a solar array drive motor that kept the solar array from generating enough power to operate the spacecraft's instruments. engineers have since made adjustments to the solar array system that have increased the amount of power it can generate to acceptable levels. Landsat 5, launched in March 1984, remains critical to earth scientists and others, because of the loss of Landsat 6 upon launch over a decade ago and instrument problems with Landsat 7, in orbit since 1999. The White House has directed the USGS and NASA to begin work on a "Landsat Data Continuity Mission", a spacecraft that would replace the two existing Landsat spacecraft, but experts fear both Landsat 5 and 7 could fail before that replacement spacecraft can be built and launched.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, April 22
US to allies: Don’t use Chinese satellite services
Defense One — 5:58 am ET (0958 GMT) Egypt Inaugurates African Space Agency Headquarters in Cairo
Egypt Today — 5:57 am ET (0957 GMT) Egypt inaugurates African Space Agency headquarters in Cairo
Yeni Safak — 5:57 am ET (0957 GMT) African Space Agency's Headquarters Inaugurated in Egypt
allAfrica.com — 5:56 am ET (0956 GMT) Egypt Launches African Space Agency HQ
MENAFN — 5:56 am ET (0956 GMT) |
