Aqua Spacecraft Images and Animations
Here you ll find our catalog of Aqua spacecraft images and animations. The AIRS instrument flies aboard NASA s Aqua spacecraft.
Live Footage of Aqua Launch, May 4, 2002
The Aqua spacecraft lifted off from the Western Test Range of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard a Delta II rocket at 2:55 a.m. PDT. Spacecraft separation occurred at 3:54 a.m. PDT. inserting Aqua into a 438-mile orbit.
Aqua's early afternoon observation time complements the 10:30-10:45 a.m. equatorial crossing time (descending in this case) of the EOS Terra satellite, launched in December 1999.
Aqua is positioned in a near-polar orbit around the Earth at an altitude of 705 km in synchronization with the Sun, with its path over the ground ascending and descending across the equator at the same local times every day.
The science output from the Aqua mission will be enhanced through coordinated flying with several other satellites that will be obtaining complementary data sets.
This animation shows schematically the sensing of Aqua's six Earth-observing instruments, in the following order: CERES, AIRS, AMSU, HSB, MODIS, and AMSR-E.
Images
Animations and Video
