LIVE: Delta II (VAFB) - Aquarius, June 10, 2011

[Ronsmytheiii]

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The first stage of the Delta II rocket that will carry NASA's Aquarius satellite into low Earth orbit is raised onto the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 (SLC-2) in California. While the Delta II rocket is stacked on SLC-2, teams for NASA's Glory spacecraft and Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket are in launch preparation mode at Vandenberg's nearby Space Launch Complex 576-E. Scheduled to launch in June, Aquarius' mission will be to provide monthly maps of global changes in sea surface salinity. By measuring ocean salinity from space, Aquarius will provide new insights into how the massive natural exchange of freshwater between the ocean, atmosphere and sea ice influences ocean circulation, weather and climate. Also going up with the satellite are optical and thermal cameras, a microwave radiometer and the SAC-D spacecraft, which were developed with the help of institutions in Italy, France, Canada and Argentina.

One of the last launches of Delta II

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=228

[Ronsmytheiii]

The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is in the Spaceport Systems International payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Earlier, a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane delivered the spacecraft from Campos, Brazil. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch to low Earth orbit.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=228

[jacqmans]

News release: 2011-103                                                                    March 31, 2011

Salt-Seeking Spacecraft Arrives at Launch Site
NASA Instrument Will Measure Ocean Surface Salinity

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-103&cid=release_2011-103

PASADENA, Calif. – An international spacecraft that will take NASA's first space-based measurements of ocean surface salinity has arrived at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Aquarius/SAC-D mission will provide scientists with a key missing variable in satellite observations of Earth that links ocean circulation, the global balance of freshwater and climate.

The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft left Sáo José dos Campos, Brazil, on March 29. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be attached to a Delta II rocket for a June 9 launch.

The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on CONAE's SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in the concentration of dissolved salt at the ocean surface. Measuring salinity is important to understanding how changes in rainfall, evaporation and the melting or freezing of ice influence ocean circulation and are linked to climate changes. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to these fundamental climate processes.

"Just as salt is essential to life as we know it, salinity is crucial to Earth's climate system," said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth and Space Research in Seattle. "Very small changes in salinity can have large-scale effects on ocean circulation and the way the ocean moderates our climate. These changes are linked to the movement of water between the ocean, atmosphere and cryosphere."

Aquarius will greatly enhance the quantity of ocean salinity measurements that have been collected from ships, buoys and floats.

"When combined with data from other sensors that measure sea level, ocean color, temperature, winds, rainfall and evaporation, Aquarius' continuous, global salinity data will give scientists a much clearer picture of how the ocean works, how it is linked to climate and how it may respond to climate change," Lagerloef said.

Precise salinity measurements from Aquarius will reveal changes in patterns of global precipitation and evaporation, and show how these affect ocean circulation. Studies from Aquarius eventually will improve computer models used to forecast future climate conditions, including short-term climate events such as El Niño and La Niña.

"The mission continues a long and successful partnership between NASA and CONAE, and it will provide a new type of ocean observation for ocean and climate studies," said Amit Sen, Aquarius project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Aquarius will measure ocean surface salinity by sensing thermal microwave emissions from the water's surface with a radiometer. When other environmental factors are equal, these emissions indicate how salty the surface water is. Because salinity levels in the open ocean vary by only about five parts per thousand, Aquarius employs new technologies to detect changes in salinity as small as about two parts per 10,000, equivalent to about one-eighth of a teaspoon of salt in a gallon of water.

Flying in a 657-kilometer (408-mile) high, polar orbit, Aquarius/SAC-D will map the global ocean once every seven days. Its measurements will be merged to yield monthly estimates of ocean surface salinity with a spatial resolution of 150 kilometers (93 miles). The data will reveal how salinity changes over time and from one part of the ocean to another.

Aquarius is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Program mission. The Aquarius instrument was jointly built by JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the launch. JPL will manage Aquarius through the mission's commissioning phase and archive mission data. Goddard will manage the mission's operations phase and process Aquarius science data.

CONAE is providing the SAC-D spacecraft, an optical camera, a thermal camera in collaboration with Canada, a microwave radiometer, sensors developed by various Argentine institutions, and the mission operations center in Argentina. France and Italy also are contributing instruments.

For more information on Aquarius, visit: http://aquarius.nasa.gov and http://www.conae.gov.ar/eng/principal.html .

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M15-11

AQUARIUS/SAC-D INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ACCREDITATION NOW OPEN

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- International media who would
like to cover the launch of Aquarius/SAC-D at Vandenberg Air Force
Base in California need to apply for accreditation by May 9.

The launch of Aquarius/SAC-D aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II
rocket from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for June 9 at
7:20 a.m. PDT. Due to U.S. Air Force requirements, international
media must apply for accreditation 30 days or more before the launch.

International media should contact:

Jeremy Eggers
30th Space Wing Public Affairs Office
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Telephone: 805-606-3595
FAX: 805-606-4571
E-mail: [email protected]

Information required is full legal name, date of birth, nationality,
passport number and media affiliation. A legal photo identification
will be required upon arrival at Vandenberg.

Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft,
will map global changes in salinity, which is the concentration of
dissolved salt, at the ocean surface. Salinity is a key measurement
for understanding how changes in rainfall, evaporation, and the
melting or freezing of ice influence ocean circulation and are linked
to variations in Earth's climate. The three-year mission will provide
new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to
these fundamental climate processes.

Launch management is provided by NASA's Launch Services Program at the
agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy.

For more information about the Aquarius/SAC-D mission, visit:

http://aquarius.nasa.gov/

[Ronsmytheiii]

View of Aquarius

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=4

[baldusi]

This is one case that should stand out. Nasa here helped a lot the space programs of Argentina and Brazil. In exchange they got the satellite bus, integration, testing and data acquisition for free. At the same time they taught Argentina and Brazil to work in a way compatible with NASA and to cooperate in satellite development. So much that the next satellite of the series (Aquarius us SAC-D, the next will be SAC-E) will be a common Argentine and Brazilian satellite.

[Ronsmytheiii]

The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is secured to the Rotation and Test Fixture in cell 3 at the Spaceport Systems International payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There, the spacecraft will undergo inspection of its solar arrays and tests will be conducted on its propulsion subsystem. Further testing of the satellites various other systems will follow. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=228

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-040811

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408 miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft arrived
from South America aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft on March
30. It was offloaded and transported to the Spaceport Systems
International (SSI) payload processing facility on South Vandenberg.

The following day in the air lock, the shipping container was cleaned
and it then was rolled into the high bay. On April 1, the shipping
container was opened and the satellite was prepared for lifting. Once
in the processing cell, it was hoisted onto the handling dolly April
2. Inspection of the solar arrays and testing of the spacecraft's
propulsion subsystem then began. Spacecraft battery charging was
performed April 7.

The satellite is scheduled to be rotated to the vertical position on
April 8 for further testing.

At NASA's Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta II first stage was hoisted
into position on March 1. The work to attach the three solid rocket
boosters then began on March 9. The second stage was hoisted atop the
first stage March 21. Testing of the rocket now is under way.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy.

NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
is managing the launch.

United Launch Alliance of Denver, Colo., is the launch service
provider to NASA of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-041411

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408 miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is
undergoing Limited Performance Tests including the SAC-D service
platform, the Aquarius science instrument, and the SAC-D instruments.


At NASA's Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta II second-stage propulsion
system qualification testing is under way. First-stage propulsion
system qualification testing is scheduled for next week.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is managing the launch. United Launch Alliance of Denver,
Colo., is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-042211

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408.2 statute miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft has
completed end-to-end communications system testing. The objective of
the test was to verify that the Mission Operations Center, located in
Cordoba, Argentina, could conduct control and monitoring of the
spacecraft, including the capability to command the Aquarius primary
science instrument. The Limited Performance Tests including the SAC-D
service platform, the Aquarius science instrument, and the SAC-D
instruments were all successfully completed last week.

At NASA's Space Launch Complex 2, customary prelaunch testing of the
Delta II first and second stage propulsion systems continues and is
going well.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is managing the launch. United Launch Alliance of Denver,
Colo., is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-050511

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408.2 statute miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the solar array for the Aquarius/SAC-D
spacecraft was installed on April 28, and a deployment test was
successfully conducted on April 29. Loading the spacecraft with its
attitude control propellant is scheduled for May 10.

At NASA's Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta II first stage will be
loaded with liquid oxygen and a countdown test conducted on May 11.
This will be followed on May 12 with a Simulated Flight test. This is
an electrical and mechanical test of the launch vehicle's systems
that will be exercised in the same sequence as they will operate
during the actual powered flight.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is managing the launch. United Launch Alliance of Denver,
Colo., is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

Aquarius to Illuminate Links Between Salt, Climate

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-139&cid=release_2011-139

When NASA's salt-seeking Aquarius instrument ascends to the heavens this June, the moon above its launch site at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base won't be in the seventh house, and Jupiter's latest alignment with Mars will be weeks in the past, in contrast to the lyrics of the song from the popular Broadway musical "Hair." Yet for the science team eagerly awaiting Aquarius' ocean surface salinity data, the dawning of NASA's "Age of Aquarius" promises revelations on how salinity is linked to Earth's water cycle, ocean circulation and climate.

Salinity – the concentration of salt – on the ocean surface is a key missing puzzle piece in satellite studies of Earth that will improve our understanding of how the ocean and atmosphere are coupled and work in tandem to affect our climate. While satellites already measure sea surface temperature and winds, rainfall, water vapor, sea level, and ocean color, measurements of ocean surface salinity have, until quite recently, been limited to sparse data collected from ships, buoys and a small number of airborne science campaigns.

From those limited data, we know ocean surface salinity varies by only about five parts per thousand globally. Yet a change of just a fraction of one part per thousand can influence the circulation of the ocean. Knowing the salinity of the ocean surface can also help scientists trace Earth's water cycle – the process that circulates freshwater from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back again to the ocean through rainfall, evaporation, ice melt and river runoff. Aquarius, the primary science instrument on the Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D spacecraft built by Argentina's national space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, will help scientists study these complex, interrelated processes and their link to climate.

Recent studies have shown Earth's water cycle is speeding up in response to climate change, which affects global precipitation patterns. Currently, scientists study the water cycle by making inferences from measurements of how much water is discharged from rivers and by measuring precipitation and evaporation rates using satellites like NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.

"About 80 percent of Earth's water cycle takes place over the ocean," said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth & Space Research, Seattle. "By measuring ocean surface salinity, Aquarius will be able to track how the water cycle is changing in response to climate change."

Salinity and the Deep Blue Sea

While surface winds drive currents in the upper ocean, deep below the surface, it's a different story. There, ocean circulation is dominated by changes in the density of seawater. These changes are determined by salinity and temperature. The saltier and colder the water, the more dense it is. In parts of the world, cool, high-salinity surface waters become so dense that they sink to great depths, where they become part of deep ocean currents. Found in all ocean basins, these deep currents are interconnected and play an important role in regulating Earth's climate by transporting heat globally.

By revealing changes in patterns of global precipitation and evaporation and showing how these changes may affect ocean circulation, Aquarius will help improve predictions of future climate trends and short-term climate events, such as El Niño and La Niña.

'A Spoon of Salt in a Lake'

Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, once said, "A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed."

Such is the challenge faced by the scientists who designed Aquarius. Since ocean surface salinity generally averages just 32 to 37 parts per thousand around the globe, it's very hard for a satellite to detect its signal. The salinity differences between El Niño and La Niña are very small – only about one part per thousand.

Aquarius employs new technologies to be able to detect changes in ocean surface salinity as small as about two parts in 10,000, equivalent to about one-eighth of a teaspoon of salt in a gallon of water. Its unique, advanced design combines three radiometers, which measure the salinity signal, with a scatterometer that compensates for the effects of ocean surface "roughness" (waves). The result is expected to be the most accurate salinity data ever measured from space.

Scientists will combine Aquarius' maps of global ocean surface salinity with in-ocean salinity measurements to generate routine maps of ocean salinity distribution. Later in the mission, Aquarius data will be inter-calibrated and combined with complementary data from the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite.

Peering Into a Crystal Ball (of Salt)

Scientists believe Aquarius will lead to exciting and unexpected new discoveries - a "mind's true liberation" of sorts. They will be able to accurately calculate the rate at which surface ocean circulation transports freshwater. They'll see how salinity is affected by melting ice, freshwater flowing into the ocean, and fluxes of freshwater to and from the atmosphere from rainfall and evaporation. They'll be able to better study how ocean waters mix vertically. And they'll greatly reduce uncertainties in calculating the ocean's freshwater budget (the net difference between freshwater lost in the ocean through evaporation and freshwater added to the ocean by precipitation and runoff).

Perhaps nowhere is the potential for discovery from Aquarius higher than in the Southern Ocean. "Today's salinity maps don't show many features in the Southern Ocean," said Yi Chao, Aquarius project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., which jointly built Aquarius with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "This is because data there are so sparse. Yet the Southern Ocean is one of the key deepwater formation areas in the world and is one of the key drivers of deep ocean circulation and heat transport."

Other areas of particular interest to Aquarius researchers include:

- The Central North Atlantic, where salinity has been observed to be increasing, and the region has been getting more arid
- The Nordic and Labrador Seas, where dense water forms at the surface and sinks to deep layers in the ocean. Aquarius should be able to observe the year-to-year effects of ice melting on the circulation between Greenland and Iceland.
- The Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, which have a very large salinity signal but have been less frequently measured than the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

And then there's the Arctic Ocean, which has seen significant changes in sea ice cover in recent years. Aquarius will provide some salinity measurements over the Arctic during its ice-free seasons, though the Aquarius signal is less sensitive over cold water.

Aquarius' prime mission will last at least three years, long enough to map year-to-year variations in salinity that will allow researchers to develop the methodology for and demonstrate the usefulness of salinity as a climate data record.

Aquarius data will eventually be used to improve the accuracy of climate forecast models. Ocean surface salinity is not currently well represented in models used by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its assessment reports.

Lagerloef likened Aquarius to an explorer of an unexplored frontier. "We'll see the ocean in a whole different light. When the first Earth science satellites launched in the 1970s, we saw ocean eddies for the first time and got our first glimpse of the tremendous turbulence of the ocean. With Aquarius, we're going to see things we don't currently see. It's as though the blinders will be removed from our eyes."

For more information on Aquarius, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius .

Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
[email protected]



- end -
 

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-094

NASA ANNOUNCES NEWS BRIEFING ON AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSION

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news briefing on Tuesday, May 17, at 1
p.m. EDT, on the agency's next Earth-observing satellite mission,
Aquarius/SAC-D, scheduled to launch on June 9. The briefing will be
held at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Panelists will discuss the international spacecraft mission, a
collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comisión
Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with participation by
Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. CONAE provided the SAC-D
spacecraft.

The mission's primary instrument, NASA's Aquarius, will make the
agency's first space-based global measurements of the salinity of the
ocean surface. Salinity, a key missing variable in satellite
observations of Earth, links ocean circulation, the global balance of
freshwater and climate. Seven other SAC-D instruments, contributed by
Argentina, Canada, France and Italy, will collect environmental data
for a wide range of applications, including studies of natural
hazards, air quality, land processes, and epidemiology.

The panelists are:
- Eric Lindstrom, Aquarius program scientist, NASA Headquarters
- Eric Ianson, Aquarius program executive, NASA Headquarters
- Gary Lagerloef, Aquarius principal investigator, Earth & Space
Research, Seattle
- Amit Sen, Aquarius project manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif.
- Daniel Caruso, Aquarius/SAC-D project manager, CONAE, Buenos Aires

The briefing will be held in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA
Headquarters, located at 300 E St. SW, Washington. Reporters unable
to attend in person may ask questions from participating NASA centers
or by telephone. To participate by phone, reporters must contact
Dwayne Brown at 202-358-1726 or [email protected] by 9 a.m. on
May 17.

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's
website. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling
information, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


Viewers also can watch the event and chat live on Ustream at:


http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2


For more information about Aquarius/SAC-D, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius   



http://www.conae.gov.ar/eng/principal.html   


-end-

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-051211

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408.2 statute miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, loading the spacecraft with its attitude
control propellant was done May 11. Thursday, the spacecraft is being
mated to the payload attach fitting. The assembly later will mate to
the Delta II rocket.

At NASA's Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta II first stage was loaded
with liquid oxygen and a countdown test conducted on May 11.
Thursday, a Simulated Flight test is being run. This is an electrical
and mechanical test of the launch vehicle's systems that will be
exercised in the same sequence as they will operate during the actual
powered flight.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is managing the launch. United Launch Alliance of Denver,
Colo., is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

RELEASE: 11-150

NASA MISSION WILL OBSERVE EARTH'S SALTY SEAS FOR CLIMATE CLUES

WASHINGTON -- Final preparations are under way for the June 9 launch
of the international Aquarius/SAC-D observatory. The mission's
primary instrument, Aquarius, will study interactions between ocean
circulation, the water cycle and climate by measuring ocean surface
salinity.

Engineers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are performing
final tests before mating Aquarius/SAC-D to its Delta II rocket. The
mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency,
Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with
participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. SAC stands for
Satelite de Applicaciones Cientificas.

In addition to Aquarius, the observatory carries seven other
instruments that will collect environmental data for a wide range of
applications, including studies of natural hazards, air quality, land
processes and epidemiology.

The mission will make NASA's first space observations of the
concentration of dissolved salt at the ocean surface. Aquarius'
observations will reveal how salinity variations influence ocean
circulation, trace the path of freshwater around our planet, and help
drive Earth's climate. The ocean surface constantly exchanges water
and heat with Earth's atmosphere. Approximately 80 percent of the
global water cycle that moves freshwater from the ocean to the
atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean happens over the ocean.

Salinity plays a key role in these exchanges. By tracking changes in
ocean surface salinity, Aquarius will monitor variations in the water
cycle caused by evaporation and precipitation over the ocean, river
runoff, the freezing and melting of sea ice. Salinity also makes
seawater denser, causing it to sink, where it becomes part of deep,
interconnected ocean currents. This deep ocean "conveyor belt" moves
water masses and heat from the tropics to the polar regions, helping
to regulate Earth's climate.

"Salinity is the glue that bonds two major components of Earth's
complex climate system: ocean circulation and the global water
cycle," said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth
& Space Research in Seattle. "Aquarius will map global variations in
salinity in unprecedented detail, leading to new discoveries that
will improve our ability to predict future climate."

Aquarius will measure salinity by sensing microwave emissions from the
water's surface with a radiometer instrument. These emissions can be
used to indicate the saltiness of the surface water, after accounting
for other environmental factors. Salinity levels in the open ocean
vary by only about five parts per thousand, and small changes are
important. Aquarius uses advanced technologies to detect changes in
salinity as small as about two parts per 10,000, equivalent to a
pinch (about one-eighth of a teaspoon) of salt in a gallon of water.

Aquarius will map the entire open ocean every seven days for at least
three years from 408 miles (657 kilometers) above Earth. Its
measurements will produce monthly estimates of ocean surface salinity
with a spatial resolution of 93 miles (150 kilometers). The data will
reveal how salinity changes over time and from one part of the ocean
to another.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission continues NASA and CONAE's 17-year
partnership. NASA provided launch vehicles and operations for three
SAC satellite missions and science instruments for two. Aquarius was
built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and
the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. JPL will
manage Aquarius through its commissioning phase and archive mission
data. Goddard will manage Aquarius mission operations and process
science data. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida is managing the launch.

CONAE is providing the SAC-D spacecraft, an optical camera, a thermal
camera in collaboration with Canada, a microwave radiometer; sensors
from various Argentine institutions and the mission operations center
there. France and Italy are contributing instruments.

For more information about Aquarius/SAC-D, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius 

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-051911

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408.2 statute miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft was
installed into its transportation canister and placed on the
spacecraft transporter. Friday, it is scheduled to be moved from the
payload processing facility on south Vandenberg to NASA's Space
Launch Complex 2 on north Vandenberg and hoisted atop the Delta II
rocket.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is managing the launch. United Launch Alliance of Denver,
Colo., is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

May 25, 2011

For Aquarius, Sampling Seas No 'Grain of Salt' Task

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-157&cid=release_2011-157

The breakthrough moment for oceanographer Gary Lagerloef, the principal investigator for NASA's new Aquarius mission, came in 1991. That's when he knew it would be possible to make precise measurements of ocean salinity from space. It has taken nearly two decades to turn that possibility into a reality.

Lagerloef was looking at data collected by a NASA aircraft flying over the ocean off the coast of Maryland. It was testing a new radiometer, an instrument that can sense thermal signals emitted by land, clouds and the ocean surface. The instrument not only captured the unique signature of dissolved salt in the surface water below, it showed how the water's salt content varied from one side of the Gulf Stream to the other.

"That flight was a turning point," said Lagerloef, a senior scientist at Earth & Space Research, Seattle. "We could clearly see the range that we needed to study salinity from its lowest levels in the North Pacific to the highest salinity levels in the North Atlantic."

Salinity, or saltiness, plays a critical role in ocean circulation and is a key tracer for understanding the ocean's role in Earth's global water cycle. While satellites routinely provide information on sea surface temperature, sea level, ocean color and ocean winds, historically, no global view of ocean surface salinity had been available. Salinity measurements were limited to those by ships, buoys and floats until recently - and are still few and far between.

Measuring salinity from space is extremely challenging and has been one of the last frontiers for ocean remote sensing. The European Space Agency launched a mission to measure soil moisture and ocean salinity in 2009. And now the Aquarius/SAC-D mission developed by NASA and Argentina's space agency, the Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, is being readied for launch on June 9. The two missions are complementary, but differ in focus and technology. One important difference is that Aquarius uses both a passive radiometer to detect ocean salinity and an active scatterometer radar to correct the radiometer's salinity measurements for wind roughness (waves) at the sea surface. This is the first combination of this kind used in space for Earth observations, whereas the European Space Agency mission uses only a passive radiometer.

Aquarius is dedicated to making precise measurements of ocean salinity over months and years, providing important new information for climate studies. It will produce monthly maps of the surface salinity of the global ocean with a 93-mile (150-kilometer) resolution and an accuracy of 0.2 practical salinity units, which is equal to about one-eighth teaspoon of salt in a gallon of water. (Practical salinity is a scale used to describe the concentration of dissolved salts in seawater, nearly equivalent to parts per thousand.) The mission is to make these measurements continuously for at least three years.

"This is a level of accuracy and stability that has never been achieved in space before," said Aquarius Instrument Scientist Simon Yueh, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., which is managing the mission for NASA through its commissioning phase.

"The first challenge is that the signal we are measuring is very small," said Aquarius Deputy Principal Investigator David Le Vine, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "It is a very tiny signal in a noisy environment. In addition, the dynamic range - the difference in the signal that comes from water with low salinity and water with high salinity - is also small."

The Aquarius instrument has three separate radiometers aimed at the ocean below. The radiometers are designed to detect and measure a particular wavelength of microwave energy being emitted by the ocean.

"Everything radiates energy," explained Le Vine. "When you see the glow of an electric stove, you're seeing thermal radiation. It is in a range that our eyes can see. Night-vision goggles let you see radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum. For Aquarius, we're measuring radiation at microwave frequencies."

The radiometers on Aquarius measure the microwave emissions from the sea surface at 1.4 gigahertz in the L-band portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This energy, which is measured as an equivalent temperature called the "brightness temperature" in Kelvin, has a direct correlation to surface salinity.

"Lots of things interfere with the salinity signal Aquarius is measuring, such as land and atmospheric effects," said Le Vine. "Ocean waves are a particularly significant source of 'noise' that can confuse the signal from salinity. That's why we have an additional instrument, a scatterometer, on board to help correct for this." The scatterometer sends a radar pulse to the ocean surface that is reflected back to the spacecraft, providing information about the ocean surface.

Because of its importance, the 1.4 gigahertz band is protected for scientific use. Nevertheless, says Aquarius Science Team Member Frank Wentz, director of Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, Calif., stray signals from radar, telephone and radio occasionally cause problems. Aquarius' radiometers are designed to detect much of this interference and eliminate contaminated measurements.

Wentz is part of the team creating the complicated mathematical formula - called a retrieval algorithm - that Aquarius will use to translate brightness temperature into measurements of salinity. "It's basically a big subtraction process," he said. "We figure out all the things that interfere with the signal we want and eliminate their effect on our measurement. This would be challenging enough to do even if the ocean were perfectly flat like a mirror. Instead, because of waves, it's more like a funhouse mirror that distorts everything."

Aquarius' primary focus is to see how salinity varies from place to place and changes with time. This task would be easier if there were a greater difference in the signal between the regions with low salinity and those with high salinity.

Over the open ocean, salinity is relatively constant. It ranges from about 32 to 37 parts per thousand. The corresponding change in brightness temperature -- what Aquarius measures -- is very small. Aquarius has been designed to detect changes in salinity as small as about two parts per 10,000, which corresponds to about 0.1 Kelvin. "This will be about 10 times more accurate than previous spaceborne radiometer observations of other sea surface characteristics," said Yueh.

Aquarius has to be extremely stable as well as sensitive. "If we want to see small things over long periods of time, we have to make sure that the instrument itself doesn't change. We need to know that any variations we observe are real and not caused by the instrument itself," said Yueh. Making this happen required special engineering attention to temperature control and calibration.

Controlling the temperature, critical for maintaining precision and stability, within a large instrument is difficult. JPL engineers had to design special computer models to understand the system's thermal behavior and its electronics. "This had never been done before for an instrument of this size operating over months and years," said Yueh.

All microwave radiometers, including Aquarius, require a calibration reference point. Most operational spacecraft radiometers continuously turn to look at cold space in order to calibrate their instruments. Aquarius, however, uses internal calibration to help retain its stability. "We have a big antenna and a large instrument," said Yueh. "No one wants to spin this instrument around frequently to look at an external reference."

While Aquarius benefits from advanced technologies such as internal calibration and sophisticated radiometers, its ability to measure global ocean surface salinity with unprecedented accuracy is the result of years of research and planning.

The key to making this challenging measurement, say Aquarius science team members, is in the details. And from the tiny, detailed measurements of salinity that Aquarius makes, a new "big" picture of Earth's ocean will emerge.

For more information on Aquarius, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius .

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M21-11

AQUARIUS/SAC-D SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH JUNE 9

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The launch of the Aquarius/SAC-D
observatory aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is
scheduled for Thursday, June 9. Liftoff from NASA's Space Launch
Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Calif., is targeted
during a five-minute launch window that opens at 7:20 a.m. PDT (10:20
a.m. EDT). The spacecraft's final circular polar orbit will be 408
miles (657 kilometers) at an inclination of 98 degrees.

Aquarius is the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft.
The observatory was built by Argentina's space agency CONAE. Aquarius
will map global changes in salinity -- the concentration of dissolved
salt -- at the ocean surface. Salinity is a key measurement for
understanding how changes in rainfall, evaporation, and the melting
or freezing of ice influence ocean circulation and are linked to
variations in Earth's climate. The three-year mission will provide
new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to
these fundamental climate processes.

ACCREDITATION

News media desiring accreditation for the prelaunch and launch
activities of Aquarius/SAC-D should fax their requests on news
organization letterhead to:

Jeremy Eggers
30th Space Wing Public Affairs Office
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Telephone: 805-606-3595
FAX: 805-606-4571
E-mail: [email protected]

Information required for U.S. media is full legal name, date of birth
and media affiliation. A legal photo identification will be required
upon arrival at Vandenberg.

PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE

Tuesday, June 7: The prelaunch news conference will be held from 1 to
2:30 p.m. PDT (4 to 5:30 p.m. EDT) in the second floor conference
room of the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office, Building 840, at
Vandenberg Air Force Base. The briefing will be carried live on NASA
Television with question-and-answer capability available from other
NASA field centers.

Media desiring to cover the event should meet at the south gate of
VAFB on California State Road 246 at 12:30 p.m. to be escorted by
30th Space Wing Public Affairs to the news conference.

Participants in the prelaunch news conference will be:

Eric Ianson, Aquarius program executive
NASA Headquarters

Omar Baez, NASA launch director
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Vernon Thorp, program manager, NASA missions
United Launch Alliance, Denver, Colo.

Amit Sen, Aquarius project manager
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Capt. Shawn Hannah, launch weather officer, 30th Weather Squadron
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSION SCIENCE BRIEFING

Immediately following the prelaunch news conference will be an
Aquarius Mission Science Briefing. Presenting the mission science
objectives will be:

Gary Lagerloef, Aquarius principal investigator
Earth & Space Research, Seattle

Yi Chao, Aquarius project scientist
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

REMOTE CAMERAS

Wednesday, June 8: Media desiring to establish sound-activated remote
cameras at the launch pad should meet at the pass and identification
building located at the Vandenberg main gate on California State Road
1 at 8:30 a.m. to be escorted to the launch pad.

NEWS MEDIA LAUNCH PAD PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Wednesday, June 8: There will be an opportunity for the media to see
and photograph the Delta II with Aquarius/SAC-D at the launch pad and
speak with representatives of CONAE and the government of Argentina.
This is planned to occur at approximately the time the mobile service
tower is to be pulled away from the rocket. Media will depart for the
pad at 9:30 p.m. from the pass and identification building at the
Vandenberg main gate on California State Road 1. Those wishing to
attend should confirm their participation with Jeremy Eggers, 30th
Space Wing Public Affairs office at 805-606-3595.

LAUNCH DAY MEDIA COVERAGE

Thursday, June 9: Media covering the Aquarius/SAC-D launch should meet
at 6 a.m. at the Vandenberg main gate located on California State
Road 1 to be escorted to the press viewing site. Press credentials
and identification from a bona fide news organization will be
required for access. A driver's license alone will not be sufficient.

After launch, media will be escorted back to the main gate. Media
interested in speaking with CONAE representatives, officials from the
government of Argentina and mission officials will be escorted to
NASA Building 840 on south Vandenberg for an informal interview
opportunity following a successful launch. This event will begin at
9:30 a.m. PDT. It will not be carried on NASA Television.

NASA TELEVISION COVERAGE

NASA Television will carry the prelaunch news conference and mission
science briefing starting at 1 p.m. PDT (4 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, June
7. The prelaunch news conference also will be webcast at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv 

On launch day, June 9, NASA TV commentary coverage of the countdown
will begin at 5:30 a.m. PDT (8:30 a.m. EDT). Liftoff is targeted for
7:20:13 a.m. PDT (10:20:13 a.m. EDT). Spacecraft separation from the
Delta II occurs 56 minutes, 42 seconds after launch.

For information on receiving NASA TV, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html

VOICE CIRCUIT COVERAGE

To monitor audio of the prelaunch news conference and the launch
coverage, dial the NASA "V" circuits, which may be accessed directly
at 321-867-1220....-1240....-1260. This audito is monitor only.
"Mission Audio" of countdown activities without NASA launch
commentary will be carried on 321-867-7135 beginning at 5 a.m. PDT (8
a.m. EDT).

WEB COVERAGE

Launch coverage of the Delta II Aquarius/SAC-D countdown activities
will be available on the NASA website by going to the home page at:

http://www.nasa.gov 

Live countdown coverage on NASA's launch blog begins at 5:30 a.m. PDT
(8:30 a.m. EDT). Coverage features real-time updates of countdown
milestones, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch
preparations and liftoff.

To access these features, go to NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D mission website
at:

http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius

NASA AQUARIUS/SAC-D AND DELTA II NEWS CENTER

The Aquarius/SAC-D News Center at the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office
will be staffed beginning June 1. To speak with a NASA communications
specialist, call 805-605-3051. A recorded launch status report also
will be available starting on June 6 by dialing 805-734-2693.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. The Aquarius science instruments were jointly built by JPL
and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. JPL will manage Aquarius
through the mission's commissioning phase and archive mission data.
Goddard will manage the mission's operations phase and process
Aquarius science data. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida provides launch management. United
Launch Alliance of Denver, Colo., is NASA's launch service provider
of the Delta II 7320.


-end-

[jacqmans]

STATUS REPORT: ELV-052711

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

Spacecraft: Aquarius
Launch Vehicle: Delta II 7320
Launch Site:  Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Launch Pad:  Space Launch Complex 2
Launch Date:  June 9, 2011
Launch Window: 7:20:13 - 7:25:13 a.m. PDT
Altitude/Inclination: 408.2 statute miles/98 degrees

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft was moved
on May 20 from the payload processing facility on south Vandenberg to
NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 on north Vandenberg and hoisted atop
the Delta II rocket. The mechanical and electrical connections are
complete. The Flight Program Verification, an integrated electrical
test involving the Delta II working together with the Aquarius/SAC-D
spacecraft, was successfully completed on May 25. Installation of the
payload fairing around the satellite is scheduled for May 28.

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and
Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France
and Italy. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida is managing the launch. United Launch Alliance of Denver,
Colo., is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

[jacqmans]

June 2, 2011

New NASA Salt Mapper to Spice Up Climate Forecasts

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-169&cid=release_2011-169

Salt is essential to human life. Most people don't know, however, that salt -- in a form nearly the same as the simple table variety -- is just as essential to Earth's ocean, serving as a critical driver of key ocean processes. While ancient Greek soothsayers believed they could foretell the future by reading the patterns in sprinkled salt, today's scientists have learned that they can indeed harness this invaluable mineral to foresee the future -- of Earth's climate.

The oracles of modern climate science are the computer models used to forecast climate change. These models, which rely on a myriad of data from many sources, are effective in predicting many climate variables, such as global temperatures. Yet data for some pieces of the climate puzzle have been scarce, including the concentration of dissolved sea salt at the surface of the world's ocean, commonly called ocean surface salinity, subjecting the models to varying margins of error. This salinity is a key indicator of how Earth's freshwater moves between the ocean, land and atmosphere.

Enter Aquarius, a new NASA salinity-measurement instrument slated for launch in June 2011 aboard the Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D spacecraft built by Argentina's Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE). Aquarius' high-tech, salt-seeking sensors will make comprehensive measurements of ocean surface salinity with the precision needed to help researchers better determine how Earth's ocean interacts with the atmosphere to influence climate. It's a mission that promises to be, to quote the old saying, "worth its salt."

Improving Climate Forecasts

"We ultimately want to predict climate change and have greater confidence in our predictions. Climate models are the only effective means we have to do so," said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef, a scientist at the Seattle-based independent laboratory Earth & Space Research. "But, a climate model's forecast skill is only as good as its ability to accurately represent modern-day observations."

Density-driven ocean circulation, according to Lagerloef, is controlled as much by salinity as by ocean temperature. Sea salt makes up only 3.5 percent of the world's ocean, but its relatively small presence reaps huge consequences.

Salinity influences the very motion of the ocean and the temperature of seawater, because the concentration of sea salt in the ocean's surface mixed layer -- the portion of the ocean that is actively exchanging water and heat with Earth's atmosphere -- is a critical driver of these ocean processes. It's the missing variable in understanding the link between the water cycle and ocean circulation. Specifically, it's an essential metric to modeling precipitation and evaporation.

Accurate ocean surface salinity data are a necessary component to understanding what will happen in the future, but can also open a window to Earth's climate past. When researchers want to create a climate record that spans previous decades -- which helps them identify trends -- it's necessary to collect and integrate data from the last two to three decades to develop a consistent analysis.

"Aquarius, and successor missions based on it, will give us, over time, critical data that will be used by models that study how Earth's ocean and atmosphere interact, to see trends in climate," said Lagerloef. "The advances this mission will enable make this an exciting time in climate research."

Taking Past Measurements with a Grain of Salt

Anyone who's splashed at the beach knows that ocean water is salty. Yet measuring this simple compound in seawater has been a scientific challenge for well over a century.

Until now, researchers had taken ocean salinity measurements from aboard ships, buoys and aircraft – but they'd done so using a wide range of methods across assorted sampling areas and over inconsistent times from one season to another. Because of the sparse and intermittent nature of these salinity observations, researchers have not been able to fine-tune models to obtain a true global picture of how ocean surface salinity is influencing the ocean. Aquarius promises to resolve these deficiencies, seeing changes in ocean surface salinity consistently across space and time and mapping the entire ice-free ocean every seven days for at least three years.

The Age of Aquarius

Research modelers like William Large, an oceanographer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., will use Aquarius' ocean surface salinity data, along with precipitation and temperature observations, to round out the data needed to refine the numerical climate models he and his colleagues have developed.

"This mission is sure to mark a new era for end users like us," explained Large. "Aquarius puts us on the road to implementing a long-term, three-step plan that could improve our climate models. The first step will be to use Aquarius data to identify if there is a problem with our models -- what deficiencies exist, for example, in parts of the world where observations are sparse.

"Second, the data will help us determine the source of these problems," Lange added. "Salinity helps us understand density -- and density, after all, makes ocean waters sink and float, and circulate around Earth.

"Third, Aquarius will help us solve the puzzle of what's going on in the ocean itself -- the ocean processes," he added. "We'll pair an ocean observation experiment with the satellite mission to explore the mixing and convection -- how things like salinity are stirred in the ocean -- to better determine what processes might be actually changing climate. Measuring salinity at the ocean surface will deliver a pioneering baseline of observations for changes seen by the next generation of missions in the coming decades."

"We've done all of the advance work leading up to the launch of Aquarius, so the proof will be in the actual data," said Lagerloef. "Our intent is to put the data out immediately as soon as the satellite begins transmitting. Before the end of the first year, we'll be interpreting exactly what the data are telling us and how they will benefit climate modeling."

For more information on Aquarius, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius .