Three
Two
One
We have ignition.
And lift off of the Aquarius and SAC-D observatory.
Riding atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. the Aquarius/SAC-D observatory
rocketed into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base. California. on June 10th. 2011.
at 7:20 a.m. Pacific time.
After launch. the spacecraft entered a polar orbit. flying some 480 miles above Earth.
crossing over the planet's north and south poles with each orbit.
From that vantage point. the Aquarius instrument can see each part of the world's
ocean and assemble a complete map of sea surface salt content.
Omar Baez. Launch Director. Aquarius/SAC-D: "It is going to be looking at sea salinity.
so what you're doing is. you're trying to get widespread coverages of the whole Earth
you're doing swaths around the Earth. So to get an overall map of the world's oceans.
you need this type of launch.
You can't do it from an equatorial-type or from a geo-type orbit."
Aquarius will map the global open ocean once every seven days for at least three years.
The maps will show how ocean surface salinity changes each month. season and year.
The SAC-D observatory is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space
agency. CONAE.
Armando Piloto. Mission Manager. Aquarius/SAC-D: "This is actually the fourth time that
NASA and CONAE partnered on a science mission. I've had the opportunity to work on
the prior mission. which launched on a Delta II."
By operating for three years. the international mission is also designed to show how
salinity. or salt content. changes over time.
The mission could prove essential to deciphering the future of climate change on Earth.