By: Kate Naumann And Colleen Simpkins

Aqua is a major international Earth Science satellite mission centered at NASA. It was launched on May 4, The satellite has six different Earth observing instruments on board. It is named for the large amount of information being collected about water in the Earth system from its stream of about 89 Gigabytes of data daily. Aqua was the first launched of a group of satellites termed the Afternoon Constellation, or sometimes the A- Train. A-Train is the most powerful tools scientists have for understanding our planet’s changing climate.

Aqua was sent into orbit to monitor Earth’s atmosphere to increase our understanding of Earth's water cycle and climate change. It also will help scientists figure out the causes of changing climate and if global warming is causing a unusual increase of weather in the form of hurricanes, tornadoes, and snowstorms-of-the-century.

The A Train satellites fly in low polar orbits 438 miles above Earth. They circle Earth 14 times a day. Aqua crosses the equator at approximately 1:30 AM and 1:30 PM, local time, about 3 hours behind Terra. Due to the instrument's narrow field of view, it takes about 16 days for Aqua to map the entire surface of the planet.

Aqua broadcasts data from its science instruments AIRS/AMSU-A/HSB, AMSR-E, CERES, and MODIS on X-Band radio. The satellite broadcasts continuously except for five-minute interruptions once per obit when it contacts its ground stations at Poker Flat, Alaska, and Svalbard, Norway. The water variables being measured include almost all elements of the water cycle and involve water in its liquid, solid, and vapor forms. Other variables being measured include radiative energy fluxes, aerosols, vegetation cover on the land, phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter in the oceans, and air, land, and water temperatures.

No problems or delays were reported

NASA’s Aqua satellite must maintain a very precise orbit. Gravity pulls at the satellite, gradually tugging it towards the equator and making it necessary for engineers in mission control to correct the orbit.

No. There aren’t any people or animals on board Aqua. There are, however, teams of scientists around the globe studying the data Aqua collects.

Aqua was to be a six-year mission in space. It was named for the Latin word meaning water. It was the second satellite to be launched in NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) The formation of orbiting satellites is referred to as the A-Train. Aqua leads the A-Train. Together, their overlapping radars will give a more comprehensive picture of weather and climate down on Earth. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 4, 2002, aboard a Delta ll rocket.

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