Subject: [SLR-Mail] No.2186: TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X Satellite Swap From: Rolf Koenig ******************************************************************************** SLR Electronic Mail 2013-08-02 09:11:50 UTC Message No. 2186 ******************************************************************************** Author: Rolf Koenig The close formation of TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X will be abandoned for two days in order to allow maneuvering to a mirrored helix configuration (that means the twins change position at the poles from up to down and at the equator from left to right). During the formation swap, TSX will not change the orbit. However, starting on Aug. 6 at about 8:30 UTC TDX will depart from TSX. At 10 km distance (about 7:30 UTC on Aug. 8) the formation swap is performed and TDX drifts back to TSX. TDX will be back in the close formation with TSX on Aug. 8 at about 15:00 UTC. The orbit prediction service during this time will resume as usual, we do not expect any problems on that. -- -------------------------------------------- Dr. Rolf Koenig Dep. 1: Geodesy and Remote Sensing Phone: +49 (0)8153/28-1353 FAX: +49 (0)8153/28-1735 Email: rolf.koenig@gfz-potsdam.de --------------------------------- Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences c/o DLR Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling -------------------------------------------- ********************************************************************************