SMAP

Spacecraft nº:

US spacecraft nº:

Launch data: Designation  40376 / 15003A Launch date  31 Jan 2015 - 14:22 UT Launch site  Va, SLC-2W Launch vehicle  Delta-7320-10C Mission  Earth Science Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  681 x 683 km Eccentricity   Inclination  98.1 ° Period  98.4 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket will launch the Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite for NASA. SMAP is an Earth satellite mission designed to measure and map Earth′s soil moisture and freeze/thaw state to better understand terrestrial water, carbon and energy cycles. The rocket will fly in the 7320 configuration with three solid rocket boosters and no third stage.
• SMAP (Soil Moisture Active-Passive) is NASA′s 1st Earth observing satellite designed to make high resolution global observations of Earth′s vital surface soil moisture content and freeze/thaw cycle just below your feet. It will aid global forecasting and have broad applications for science and society. SMAP′s combined radar and radiometer instruments will peer into the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil, through clouds and moderate vegetation cover, day and night, to produce the highest-resolution, most accurate soil moisture maps ever obtained from space. SMAP is projected for at least a three year primary mission.
• SMAP will provide high-resolution, space-based measurements of soil moisture and its state, frozen or thawed, a new capability that will allow scientists to better predict natural hazards of extreme weather, climate change, floods and droughts, and help reduce uncertainties in our understanding of Earth′s water, energy and carbon cycles, according to a NASA description. The mission will map the entire globe every two to three days for at least three years and provide the most accurate and highest-resolution maps of soil moisture ever obtained. The spacecraft's final circular polar orbit will be 426 miles (685 kilometers), at an inclination of 98.1 degrees. The spacecraft will orbit Earth once every 98.5 minutes and repeat the same ground track every eight days.
• When fully operational, SMAP will utilize a 19-foot-diameter (6-meter) ultra-lightweight mesh antenna to support an active Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and a passive radiometer, which are tasked with observing clouds and moderate vegetation to measure the presence of water in the topmost 2 inches (5 cm) of soil.

Mission details:

• Delayed from November 2014. Scrubbed on Jan. 29, 2015.
  
  

  13 Jan 2015 - SMAP spacecraft arriving at the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base

  SMAP hoisted atop the Delta 2 rocket

  
  
• Continuing a proud heritage of near-perfect mission success, which stretches back across more than a quarter-century, the 153rd Delta II booster toke of on Saturday, 31 January and successfully delivered NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite into a near-circular orbit of about 425 miles (685 km), inclined 98.116 degrees to the equator. Launch was originally planned for Jan.29, but was scrubbed during the final hold at T-4 minutes, due to an unacceptable situation with upper-level winds, which violated Launch Commit Criteria (LCC). A 24-hour turnaround was set in motion, but was called off, following the discovery of minor debonds to booster insulation during routine inspections, which required repair.
• The launch took place from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 6:22 a.m. PST, about 40 minutes before local sunrise. Over the course of almost an hour, the two-stage Delta II—which flew in its “7320” configuration, so named to describe its membership of the 7000-series of the vehicle (“7”), its trio of strap-on Solid Rocket Motors (“3”), the presence of a second stage (“2”) and the absence (“0”) of a third stage—powered the 2,080-pound (945 kg) SMAP on a southerly trajectory into orbit, to kick off three years of operations.
• SMAP carries a 6-m L-band antenna for synthetic aperture radar and radiometry measurements to map microwave emissions from water molecules in the soil.

External links:

• Spaceflight 101: Satellite Information
  
• Satellite tracking: Real time satellite tracking