Geosat
Full Name: U.S. Navy GEOdetic SATellite
Phase: Past
Launch Date: March 12, 1985
Mission Project Home Page: http://leonardo.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/QuickLooks/geosatQL.html
The U.S. Navy GEOdetic SATellite, GEOSAT, was launched on 12 March 1985,
into an 800-km, 108-deg inclination orbit, carried an altimeter that was
capable of measuring the distance from satellite to sea surface with a
relative precision of about 5 cm. After a classified mission for the
Navy, GEOSAT's scientific Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) began on 8 November
1986 after it was manoeuvred into a seventeen-day repeat orbit. When the
ERM ended in January 1990, due to failure of the two on board tape
recorders, more than three years of precise altimeter data were
available to the scientific community. During the ERM, GEOSAT was in a
17.05-day repeat orbit. In this orbit the satellite passes the same
point on the Earth every 17.05 days, which offers the opportunity to
determine the mean sea levels at these points containing information on
the local gravity, and to study sea level changes containing information
on ocean variability. The studies made on GEOSAT data are numerous and
the GEOSAT data set is regarded as a milestone in both satellite
oceanography and satellite geodesy.
Geosat was a US Navy satellite designed to measure
sea surface heights to within 5 cm. After a
one-and-a-half year long classified mission for the
Navy, Geosat's scientific Exact Repeat Mission (ERM)
began on November 8, 1986. When the ERM ended in
January 1990 (due to failures of both on-board tape
recorders), more than three years of precise altimeter
data were available to the scientific community.
Spacecraft :
Gravity gradient stabilized. Two tape recorders.
Payload :
Radar altimeter to measure sea surface height.