SeaStar (SeaWiFS)
Full Name: SeaStar
Phase: Operating
Launch Date: August 01, 1997
Mission Project Home Page: http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS/SEASTAR/SPACECRAFT.html
Program(s): Earth Systematic Missions
The SeaStar satellite carries the SeaWiFS instrument which is designed to monitor the color of the world's oceans. Various ocean colors indicate the presence of different types and quantities of marine phytoplankton, which play a role in the exchange of critical elements and gases between the atmosphere and oceans. The satellite will monitor subtle changes in the ocean's color to assess changes in marine phytoplankton levels, and will provide data to better understand how these changes affect the global environmental and the oceans' role in the global carbon cycle and other biogeochemical cycles. Complete coverage of the Earth's oceans will occur every two days. The NASA sponsored mission was contracted as a "data buy" from a Orbital Sciences Corporation, who will build, launch, and operate the satellite, and then sell data from the satellite to NASA. NASA will retain all rights to data for research purposes, while will OSC retain all rights for commercial and operational purposes. The mission is a follow on to the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS).
Only one instrument is carried: the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). Consisting of an optical scanning telescope and an electronics module, SeaWiFS will image the Earth's oceans in 8 frequency bands. The scanning telescope rotates at six revolutions per second in the cross-track direction to provide scan coverage with a spatial resolution of 1.13 km.
Mission Statistics:
- Country of Origin United States
- Customer/User NASA
- Manufacturer(s) Orbital Sciences, Hughes
- Launch Planned for 1996-97 on Pegasus XL from WTR
- Orbit 705 km, circular, Sun-synchronous (noon-midnight)
- Design Life 5 years