* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: GOCE satellite

Blobrana · L

The Mission Control Team at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC) are in intense training for next month's scheduled launch of GOCE.
GOCE, the Agency's Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, is scheduled for lift-off at 16:21 CEST, 10 September, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The spacecraft arrived in Russia on 29 July on board an Antonov-124 cargo aircraft.
On 14 August, members of the Mission Control Team were on console in the Main Control Room at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany, for a
12-hour simulation of the mission's countdown and launch phases. The simulation included practicing immediate reactions in case of any unexpected problems with the ground segment or the spacecraft.

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Blobrana · L

According to the Khrunichev State Research and Production Centre, the launch of the GOCE satellite aboard a Russian Rockot carrier rocket, from the Plesetsk space centre in northwest Russia, has been scheduled for September 10, 2008.

Blobrana · L

Launching in just two months' time, GOCE now fully reconfigured for launch in September, is currently being prepared for shipment on 29 July 2008 from ESA's test facilities in the Netherlands to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

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Blobrana · L

A new launch date has been set for GOCE. The change of date is due to precautionary measures taken after the malfunction of an upper-stage section of a Russian Proton launcher. Now confirmed not to affect GOCE's Rockot launcher, the most advanced gravity mission to date is scheduled for lift-off on 10 September 2008.
As a consequence of the new launch date, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite is currently undergoing final flight reconfiguration at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands. Shipment to the Plesetsk launch site in northern Russia will take place in July - from where the sleek five-metre long GOCE spacecraft will be carried into its unusually low orbit on a modified
SS-19 Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launcher. The adaptation of the SS-19, called 'Rockot', uses the two original lower stages of the ICBM in conjunction with an upper-stage called Breeze-KM for commercial payloads.

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Blobrana · L

The GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer mission) satellite is be launched from the Plesetsk space centre in northwest Russia in spring 2008 aboard a Rokot rocket.
The 1,200 kilos satellite will be placed into a low earth orbit (LEO) of 270 to300 km,   and measure the Earth's gravity field and also observe ocean circulation processes.

"The European Space Agency will present Europe's first GOCE satellite at the ESTEC (European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands) in early April. The data collected will be used in the Earth's physics, oceanography, the exploration of ice migration, oceanic currents, the measurement of the ocean's level, climate, seismic activity in various regions of our planet" - Khrunichev space research centre.

"GOCE will significantly improve our knowledge of solid Earth physics and climate research. A better understanding of the gravity field will advance our knowledge of how the Earth works and trigger a number of important practical applications, such as an improved understanding of ocean circulation as well as a greater insight into sea-level change" - ESA

Mission objectives

    * To determine the gravity-field anomalies with an accuracy of
      1 mGal (where 1 mGal = 10-5 m/s2).
    * To determine the geoid with an accuracy of
      1-2 cm.
    * To achieve the above at a spatial resolution better than 100 km.

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Blobrana · L

How high is Mount Everest exactly? Recent surveys have come up with heights that differ by more than five metres. An expedition called the Geodetic Journey is making its way through China and Tibet to highlight the importance of geodesy and how an accurate model of the geoid from ESA's GOCE mission will lead to a unified system for measuring heights.

The Earth's gravity field (geoid) as it will be seen by GOCE

Starting in Beijing, and travelling through central China to Lhasa then on to the Tibetan Plateau and ending in Shanghai, the Geodetic Journey, which is supported by ESA, will document methods of ancient surveying through to modern Earth observation. The team, made up of experts from the Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority and the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, will promote science and technology focusing on past and present achievements within surveying and mapping, geodesy and applications to climate-change research, geo-hazards and the water cycle.

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Blobrana · L

A satellite that can measure tiny variations in the Earth's gravity field will be one of Europe's most challenging space missions to date.
Goce, due for launch next year, looks like a spyplane from a movie.
Its arrow shape, fins, and electric engine help keep the satellite stable as it flies through the wisps of air still present at an altitude of 260km.
Goce data will have many uses, probing hazardous volcanic regions and bringing new insight into ocean behaviour.
The latter, in particular, is a major driver for the mission.

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Blobrana · L

GOCE, ESAs first satellite dedicated to measuring the Earths gravity field, has been presented to the press today in Turin, Italy, before being shipped to ESTEC the space agencys research and technology centre in the Netherlands for final testing.
The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer(GOCE), the first core Earth Explorer mission to be developed as part of ESA's Living Planet Programme, will significantly advance our knowledge of how the Earth works and provide insight into ocean circulation, sea-level change, climate change, volcanism and earthquakes.

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