Follow Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in Real Time As It Orbits Earth
With NASA's Eyes on the Earth web-based app, you can tag along with the U.S.-European satellite as it orbits the globe, gathering critical measurements of our changing planet.
When Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich was encapsulated in the payload
fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, it was the last time human eyes would have
a close-up look at the satellite. But now that the spacecraft is in orbit after launching
from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California on Nov. 21, NASA's
Eyes on the Earth is keeping track.
The app provides a 3D visualization of the
sea-level-monitoring satellite, letting you see where it is right now as it glides over the cloud-covered globe.
Rendered in stunning detail, the spacecraft's avatar even includes
the instruments it will use to measure sea level height and gather atmospheric
data. With the click of a mouse, you can rotate the satellite to see it from
any angle, watch it fly above Earth in real-time, or speed it up to see its
entire five-and-a-half-year mission unfold over a few minutes.
"What we create for Eyes is an engineering model of the
real thing. You can get lost in the detail - not just in how the sunlight
reflects off the spacecraft's solar panels but how you can track its exact
location in orbit," said Jason Craig, visualization producer at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "We have data streaming from
space missions near and far, and we've put that data to work. Sentinel-6
Michael Freilich is only the latest spacecraft to be added to the growing
number of missions."
As a bonus, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite model
has also been added to the Webby award-winning
Eyes on the Solar System. The web-based application
has customizable pop-up menus that allow you to zoom in and out to see where
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is in comparison with other Earth-observing satellites.
You can even put it side-by-side with other spacecraft orbiting other planets.
While you're exploring, zoom
through the rest of the solar system and travel to distant worlds with Eyes on ExoPlanets.
More About the
Mission
Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will be followed by its twin
Sentinel-6B in 2025. Together, they 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 also contributed 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 was managed by NASA's Launch
Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
To learn more about Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/sentinel-6
https://www.esa.int/Sentinel-6
https://edefis.eu/CopernicusFactsheets
|
