Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite Prepared for Launch
The newest satellite to monitor global sea level is ready for its journey into space. Here's what to expect.
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, the latest in a series of spacecraft
designed to monitor our oceans, is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air
Force Base in central California on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. The satellite will
be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B. Together, the pair is tasked with
extending our nearly 30-year-long record of global sea surface height
measurements. Instruments aboard the satellites will also provide atmospheric
data that will improve weather forecasts, climate models, and hurricane
tracking.
Launch Timeline
Named after former NASA Earth Science
Division Director Michael Freilich, the U.S.-European satellite will be carried
into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with liftoff targeted for 9:17:08 a.m.
PST (12:17:08 p.m. EST) from Space Launch Complex 4 East. If needed, backup
launch opportunities are available on subsequent days, with the instantaneous
launch window falling about 12 minutes earlier each day.
A little more than two minutes after the Falcon 9 rocket lifts
off, the main engine will cut off. Shortly after, the rocket's first and second
stages will separate, followed by second-stage engine start. The reusable
Falcon 9 first stage will then begin its automated boost-back burn to the launch
site for a propulsive landing.
The first cutoff of the second stage engine will take place
approximately eight minutes after liftoff. It will fire a second time 45
minutes later, at which point the launch vehicle and the spacecraft will be in
a temporary "parking" orbit. Several minutes later, the launch
vehicle and the spacecraft will separate. The satellite will begin solar panel
deployment about one hour and seven minutes post-launch and is expected to make
first contact about 25 minutes after that.
More About the Mission
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B make up the
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission, which was developed by ESA (European Space Agency)
in the context of the European Copernicus program led by the European
Commission, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological
Satellites (EUMETSAT), NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the European Commission and
technical support from France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, built three science
instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer,
the Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation, and the Laser
Retroreflector Array. NASA is also contributing launch services, ground systems
supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the science data
processors for two of these instruments, and support for the international
Ocean Surface Topography Science Team. The launch is managed by NASA's Launch
Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Where to Find Launch
Coverage
On launch day, Nov. 21, 2020, NASA TV coverage will begin at 8:45
a.m. PST (11:45 a.m. EST).
For live NASA TV programming on NASA's public channel, visit:
https://nasa.gov/live
For live programming on the NASA TV media channel, visit:
https://youtube.com/NASA
NASA TV programming will be archived and available soon after it
airs here:
https://images.nasa.gov
For more information on the mission, visit:
https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/jason-cs-sentinel-6/summary/
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