| Date: | 2002-12-11 18:28:00 | |
| Sender: | Julie Horvath, NASA SLR; Scott Wetzel, NASA SLR <EDC slrmail account <slrmail@dgfi.badw.de>> | |
| Subject: | [SLR-Mail] No. 1007: ADEOS-II Launch and ILRS Support | |
| Author: | Julie Horvath, NASA SLR | |
| Content: | ******************************************************************************** SLR Electronic Mail 2002-12-11 18:28:00 UTC Message No. 1007 ******************************************************************************** Author: Julie Horvath, NASA SLR; Scott Wetzel, NASA SLR Subject: ADEOS-II Launch and ILRS Support The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) has requested the cooperation of the ILRS network in tracking the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) following its launch on December 14th. ADEOS-II will be carried by a H-IIA launch vehicle from the Tanegashima Space Center on December 14th, 2002 at 10:31 Japanese Standard Time (01:31 UTC) into a sun-synchronous, repeating orbit. The ADEOS-II mission is a joint international program like its successor, ADEOS. The mission will support the monitoring of global environmental changes while continuing and furthering the broad-ranging observation technology created by ADEOS-1. The scientific goals of ADEOS-II are to monitor regularly the water and energy cycle as a part of the global climate system, to estimate quantitatively the biomass and fundamental productivity as a part of carbon cycle, and to detect the signal of long term climate change. The ADEOS-II retroreflector array design is the same as GFO-1, and Jason-1. SLR data will be used to determine a precise orbit during the first 34 days of the mission. After launch + 34 days, the Global Imager (GLI), an instrument on ADEOS-II (which is very sensitive and can be damaged or destroyed by SLR) will be turned on. Once the GLI is turned on, SLR will cease operations. The ILRS may provide small tracking campaigns during the ADEOS-II lifetime at NASDA´s request. SLR will provide limited amounts of data for the strengthening of the GPS solutions and validation/comparison of independently determined orbits. Important ADEOS-II orbit information: Launch: Dec 14, 2002 @ 01:31 UTC Altitude: 802.9 km Inclination: 98.62 deg Eccentricity: 0.0010550 Mass: 3681.39 kg SIC #: 1556 Repeat: 4 days Temporary COSPAR #: 0299999 (will change after official announcement from NASDA after launch) Npt Bin Size: 15 secs SLR Priority: 3 (above GFO-1) NASDA will provide predictions prior to launch via the ILRS Prediction Exploder. Please begin support of this new satellite as soon as possible after launch to ensure a successful campaign. Thank you for supporting this important mission during the 34 day tracking period immediately following launch. Best Regards, ILRS Central Bureau From: EDC slrmail account ******************************************************************************** |