Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

First GRACE Follow-On Satellite Completes Construction

By NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | November 15, 2016

Share

Construction is now complete on the first of the two satellites for NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission, planned for launch in the December 2017/January 2018 timeframe.

The satellite, built by Airbus Defence and Space at its manufacturing facility in Friedrichshafen, Germany, will spend the next several months undergoing testing at the IABG test center in Ottobrunn, near Munich. The second GRACE-FO satellite will be ready for testing in the near future.

GRACE-FO is a successor to NASA’s GRACE mission, which launched in 2002 and is still in operation. The twin GRACE-FO satellites, which operate in tandem, will continue GRACE’s legacy of tracking Earth’s mass redistribution and monitoring changes in underground water storage, ice sheets, glaciers, and sea level. These measurements provide a unique view of Earth’s climate and have far-reaching benefits to society and the world’s population.

As they travel together around Earth, the GRACE satellites constantly take very exact measurements of the distance between them, which changes as Earth’s gravitational pull varies. A global positioning system and a microwave ranging system measure the distance between the satellites to within one micron. Variations in gravitational pull are caused by local changes in Earth’s mass. Masses of water, ice, air and solid Earth can be moved by weather patterns, seasonal change, climate change, and even tectonic events such as large earthquakes. From the GRACE data, scientists are able to map Earth’s gravitational field monthly.

“GRACE data have revolutionized our understanding of Earth’s water cycle and how water and ice are distributed on the planet,” said Frank Webb, JPL GRACE-FO program manager. “From it, we can see clear trends in the ice-mass loss in the Arctic and the Antarctic, and clear trends in droughts in South America, Australia and Asia. These are key indicators of how the planet is responding to changes in our climate.” For example, GRACE has been instrumental in documenting the loss of groundwater in California and around the world.

The GRACE-FO satellites will test a new inter-satellite instrument called a laser ranging interferometer, developed by a German/American joint collaboration, for use in future generations of gravitational research satellites.

The GRACE-FO satellites will be launched together into a polar orbit at an altitude of about 300 miles (500 kilometers) and at a distance of about 140 miles (220 kilometers) apart.

Over the course of the five-year GRACE-FO mission, the satellites will provide an updated measurement of Earth’s gravitational field every 30 days. In addition, each of the satellites will supply up to 200 profiles of temperature distribution and water vapor content for the atmosphere and the ionosphere daily.

GRACE-FO is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ). NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.


Filed Under: Aerospace + defense

 

Related Articles Read More >

Flexible rotary shafts support thrust reverser on 150 LEAP 1-A turbofan engines
Drone-mounted inspection breaks barriers for F-35
TriStar, a misunderstood failure of design
Air Force Jet
How drones are advancing metrology for fighter jets

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Global supply needs drive increased manufacturing footprint development
  • How to Increase Rotational Capacity for a Retaining Ring
  • Cordis high resolution electronic proportional pressure controls
  • WAGO’s custom designed interface wiring system making industrial applications easier
  • 10 Reasons to Specify Valve Manifolds
  • Case study: How a 3D-printed tool saved thousands of hours and dollars

Design World Podcasts

May 17, 2022
Another view on additive and the aerospace industry
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings