Year milestone 1962
SOFIA-STRATOSPHERIC OBSERVATORY FOR INFRARED ASTRONOMY
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- ORBITING CARBON OBSERVATORY
SOFIA-STRATOSPHERIC OBSERVATORY FOR INFRARED ASTRONOMYThe Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to construct and maintain an airborne observatory. NASA awarded the contract for the development of the aircraft, operation of the observatory, and management of the American part of the project to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) in 1996. SOFIA is the largest airborne observatory in the world, capable of making observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest ground-based telescopes. During its planned 20-year lifetime, SOFIA also will inspire the development of new scientific instrumentation and foster the education of young scientists and engineers. ORBITING CARBON OBSERVATORYThe Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) is a NASA satellite mission intended to provide global space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The original spacecraft was lost in a launch failure on February 24, 2009, when the payload fairing of the Taurus rocket which was carrying it failed to separate during ascent. The added mass of the failing prevented the satellite from reaching orbit. It subsequently re-entered the atmosphere and crashed into the Indian Ocean near Antarctica. The replacement satellite, Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, was launched on July 2, 2014. OCO will fly in a near-polar orbit which enables the instrument to observe most of Earth’s surface at least once every sixteen days. It is intended to fly in loose formation with a series of other Earth-orbiting satellites known as the Earth Observing System Afternoon Constellation, or the A-train. This coordinated flight formation was intended to enable researchers to correlate OCO data with data acquired by other instruments on other spacecraft. Download 2.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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