Suomi NPP

Suomi NPP
Type:	Weather and environmental satellite
Country:	United States
Operator:	NASA / NOAA
COSPAR-ID :	2011-061A
Mission dates
Dimensions:	2270 kg (in orbit)
Begin:	October 28, 2011, 09:48 UTC
Starting place:	Vandenberg AFB SLC-2W
Launcher:	Delta II 7920-10C
Orbit data
Track height:	824 km
Orbit inclination :	98.73 ° (polar orbit)

Emblem NPOESS Preparatory Project

Suomi NPP ( Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership ; formerly NPOESS Preparatory Project ) is a weather and environmental satellite from NASA and NOAA . It was named in January 2012 after the American meteorologist Verner E. Suomi , who is considered the father of satellite meteorology .

planning

The satellite was a prototype of the weather satellite constellation NPOESS (National Operational Environmental Satellite System in Polar Orbit ) planned by NASA and NOAA , which consists of six satellites and should be launched from 2013. In addition to collecting weather data, these satellites should also provide information to study the effects of global warming .

The on-board instruments are used to measure the atmospheric temperature and moisture concentration, the display of clouds, the measurement of the temperature of the sea surface and the ozone concentration in the earth's atmosphere , the biological productivity on land and in the ocean, the aerosol concentrations and the radiation balance of the climate system.

mission

Suomi NPP was launched into sun-synchronous orbit on October 28, 2011 at 9:48 am UTC on a Delta II 7920-10C from the SLC-2W launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base . The Delta rocket used used the shorter version of the two available payload fairings with a diameter of 3.05 m and consisted of plastic reinforced with carbon fibers. The start was originally planned for 2010, but it was postponed due to problems with the American weather organization NOAA and NASA. This launch of the Delta II was perhaps the last of its type, as it is no longer in production and no further launches are currently planned. However, there are still stored components for a maximum of five missiles.

The rocket also brought six nanosatellites into orbit. They were developed as part of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite 3 program ( ELaNa -3) and built by students from various universities. All are based on the standardized Cubesats , a program initiated by California Polytechnic State University for the cost-effective development of nanosatellites in order to arouse interest in space travel, especially among students. They have different objectives: For example, the satellites will RAX-2 (Radio Aurora Explorer, the University of Michigan ) and the identical DICE 1 and DICE 2 of the Space Dynamics Laboratory , the ionosphere of the earth examine more closely. Explorer 1 [Prime] Unit 2 ( E1P-U2 ), which was produced as a replacement for Explorer 1 [Prime] ( E1P ), is particularly worth mentioning . E1P was a modern replica of the first American satellite Explorer 1 , but was lost in a false start of a Taurus XL rocket on March 4, 2011, along with two other nanosatellites and the NASA Glory mission . AubieSat-1 was developed as part of the Auburn University Student Satellite Program (AUSSP) and transmits a continuous signal via the ground station, which enables the control of the satellite to be controlled via signal deviations. M-Cubed from the University of Michigan's Student Space Systems Fabrication Lab (S3FL) is used for earth observation.

technology

The three-axis stabilized satellite is based on the BCP 2000 satellite bus for Earth observation satellites from Ball Aerospace . It is equipped with an internal MIL-STD-1553 and FireWire network and five instruments that come from earlier weather and environmental satellites such as Terra , Aqua , POES or the military DMSP weather satellites. These are:

• Visible / Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) - a 22-channel radiometer working in the visible and infrared range that provides images of the earth
• Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) - a Michelson interferometer for measuring the temperature and moisture concentration of the earth's atmosphere
• Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) - a passive 22-channel radiometer working in the microwave range for measuring the temperature and humidity profiles of the earth's atmosphere
• Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) - a measuring device for determining the ozone concentration
• Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System (CERES) - a three-channel radiometer for determining the albedo and the total energy balance of the earth

The satellite has a maximum energy consumption of 2285 watts (the bus EOL provides a maximum of 2600), a storage capacity of 343 gigabits and a data transfer rate to earth of 300 megabits per second ( X-band ). The planned lifespan of the satellite is 7 years, with the mission to last only 5 years.

Web links

Commons : Suomi NPP  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• NASA: Suomi NPP (English)
• NASA: NPP Press Kit (PDF, English; 1.7 MB)
• NASA: On Board NPP: The Five Instruments (Youtube video)
• Ball Aerospace: NPP Press Kit (PDF, English; 218 kB)
• Delta II Successfully Launches NPP Satellite on Behalf of NASA and NOAA (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NASA Renames Earth-Observing Mission in Honor of Satellite Pioneer , NASA press release of January 25, 2012
2. ↑ ulalaunch: NPP Mission Booklet ( Memento from October 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.9 MB)
3. ↑ ^{a b} NPP started successfully - end of an era, author: Daniel Maurat & Klaus Donath / October 28, 2011.
4. ↑ AMSAT: RAX-2
5. ↑ Gunter's Space Page: DICE
6. ↑ Auburn University: AubieSat-1 Senior Design (docx file, 1 MB)
7. ↑ Michigan Multipurpose Minisat
8. ↑ NASA: NPP - Spacecraft and Instruments ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.