Now SWOT is
successfully launched, we can use this thread for the SWOT mission.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/swot/2022/12/16/swot-signal-acquired/SWOT Signal Acquired
SWOT has successfully made contact with ground stations here on Earth and is providing teams with early data on the spacecraft’s health.
A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency, SWOT will provide high-resolution measurements of the height of water in the world’s ocean and freshwater bodies, providing information on the ocean’s surface topography in great detail and measuring how bodies of water change over time. The instruments on board will provide insight into the ocean’s role in climate change, as well as help communities monitor and plan for changes in water resources and the effects of rising seas.
To stay connected with the mission, visit us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and let others know you’re following it using the hashtag #TrackingWorldWater and tagging these accounts:
Twitter: @NASA, @CNES, @NASAJPL, @NASA_LSP, @NASAKennedy, @NASAEarth, @NASAClimate, @CSA_ASC, @SpaceGovUK, @SLDelta30
Facebook: NASA, CNES, NASA LSP, NASA JPL, NASA Kennedy, NASA Earth, NASA Climate Change, Canadian Space Agency, UK Space Agency
Instagram: NASA, CNES, NASA Kennedy, NASAEarth, NASA JPL, NASA Climate Change, Canadian Space Agency, UK Space Agency
Author Danielle Sempsrott
Posted on December 16, 2022
Image caption:
An artist’s concept of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft. The SWOT mission will measure the height of the world’s ocean, rivers, and lakes, helping scientists to measure how fresh and saltwater bodies change over time.
Credits: NASA
https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1603740262081040384?cxt=HHwWgMCola_R0MEsAAAA
It will also be collecting science data in a 'fast sampling' phase for the first 6 months. Apparently together with the calibration.
https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/overview/Approximately the first six months after launch, it will be in a "fast-sampling" phase with a 1-day repeat orbit at an altitude of 857 km (532.5 mi). This initial period will focus on achieving calibration and validation objectives while studying rapidly changing phenomena. Members of the international ocean science community may participate in this phase by creating programs to deploy in situ assets in the regions covered by the SWOT fast-sampling orbit. This will provide a global series of experiments with fine-scale ocean campaigns, as well as ground-based data for comparison with SWOT's daily 2-D sea surface height data. The fast-sampling phase will end with an increase in the observatory's altitude to 891 km (553.6 mi)
Animation of SWOT's solar array deployment.
This video is a series of images showing the deployment of the solar arrays that power the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite (SWOT). The mission captured the roughly 10-minute process with two of the four commercial cameras aboard the satellite (the same type used to capture NASA's Perseverance rover landing on Mars). The satellite launched Dec. 16, 2022, at 3:46 a.m. PST from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and the arrays started their deployment at 5:01 a.m. PST.
SWOT's two solar arrays measure 48.8 feet (14.9 meters) from end to end, with a total surface area of 335 square feet (31 square meters). Extending from opposite sides of the spacecraft bus, the arrays remain pointed at the Sun via small motors. They provide 8 kilowatts of power to the satellite, which has a 1.5-kilowatt total power demand.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia25563-deployment-of-swots-solar-arrays
Animation of SWOT's solar array deployment.
This video is a series of images showing the deployment of the solar arrays that power the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite (SWOT). The mission captured the roughly 10-minute process with two of the four commercial cameras aboard the satellite (the same type used to capture NASA's Perseverance rover landing on Mars). The satellite launched Dec. 16, 2022, at 3:46 a.m. PST from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and the arrays started their deployment at 5:01 a.m. PST.
SWOT's two solar arrays measure 48.8 feet (14.9 meters) from end to end, with a total surface area of 335 square feet (31 square meters). Extending from opposite sides of the spacecraft bus, the arrays remain pointed at the Sun via small motors. They provide 8 kilowatts of power to the satellite, which has a 1.5-kilowatt total power demand.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia25563-deployment-of-swots-solar-arrays
Not a CGI animation rather onboard engineering cameras:
KaRIn deployment
Solar Array Wings deployment
Not a CGI animation rather onboard engineering cameras:
Oh yeah, video is more accurate. JPL's article said "Click here for animation" and that stuck in my head lol.
Not a CGI animation rather onboard engineering cameras:
Oh yeah, video is more accurate. JPL's article said "Click here for animation" and that stuck in my head lol.
From the JPL email I received in my inbox yesterday:
Talks about the four engineering deployment cameras that came from the Curiosity/Perseverance rover programmes (Perseverance used the Curiosity flight spares and SWOT used the Perseverance flight spares):
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/watch-the-latest-water-satellite-unfold-itself-in-space
Engineers Check SWOT Science Instrument During Commissioning ActivitiesNaomi Hartono
Posted onFebruary 23, 2023
After launching in December 2022, the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission started commissioning activities – the six-month checkout period before the scientific mission begins. Commissioning has included turning on all the science instruments, among them the main science instrument, the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn), which engineers fully powered on in mid-January 2023. They received performance information, but in late January one of the instrument’s subsystems – the high-power amplifier – was unexpectedly shut down.
Engineers are working systematically to understand the situation and to restore operations, performing diagnostics and working with a test bed that simulates the KaRIn instrument on Earth. Once the KaRIn instrument is up and running again, the mission will continue with its commissioning and calibration activities – planned March through June – to ensure data accuracy in preparation for the beginning of science operations in July 2023.
Launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SWOT is a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. SWOT will take high-resolution measurements of the height of water in the world’s oceans and freshwater bodies. It will provide insight into the ocean’s role in climate change and help communities monitor and plan for changes in water resources and the effects of rising seas.