 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
NASA's AcrimSat Solar Spacecraft Completes Five-Year Mission
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 23, 2005 A NASA satellite that measures the variability in the amount of the Sun's energy that reaches Earth's atmosphere and impacts our winds, land and oceans has successfully accomplished its five-year primary mission. The Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor satellite, or AcrimSat, which was launched in December 1999, carries the Acrim III instrument. The instrument is the third in a series of solar-monitoring tools built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched over the past 25 years. The goal is to study the Sun-Earth connection by measuring solar irradiance, the Sun's energy that reaches our planet. Scientists use data from the instruments to learn how solar energy affects Earth's winds, heats the land, and drives ocean currents, all of which affect Earth's weather and climate. The data help researchers create global climate models and study solar physics. The experiments also found a drastic drop in solar irradiance levels when Venus transited between the Earth and Sun in June 2004. The decrease was equivalent to all the energy used by humans in 2003. "The satellite's measurements of total solar irradiance have been the most precise ever collected," said Roger Helizon, AcrimSat project manager/scientist at JPL. "The mission has provided a wealth of data for its relatively small cost of 30-million dollars." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links AcrimSat SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Solar Science News at SpaceDaily
Intrepid Solar Spacecraft Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 30, 2005The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft celebrates its 10th anniversary on December 2. The SOHO mission, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, has allowed scientists to make significant advances in understanding Earth's closest star, our sun. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
