A SPACECRAFT FOR THE EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM

The space segment of NASA's Earth observing system, (EOS) includes three series of intermediate-sized spacecraft, plus two smaller spacecraft. The EOS-AM spacecraft is the first of the intermediate-sized spacecraft. EOS-AM accommodates sensors that measure cloud and aerosol radiative properties, and that provide data to study the water and energy cycles. Scheduled for launch in the late 1990s, the EOS-AM spacecraft is designed for a 5-year mission. The spacecraft will be launched from the Western Space and Missile Center (California) into a polar, Sun-synchronous, low-Earth orbit with a 16-day repeat cycle. In its flight configuration, the spacecraft is almost 20 ft long (including instruments mounted at the fore end of the spacecraft) and 6 ft wide (in its widest dimension), has a mass of about 13,000 Ibs and uses about 3000 W of electrical power. The spacecraft is compatible with the Atlas IIAS launch vehicle. EOS-AM has on-board storage for at least two orbits of science data. These data will be transmitted to the ground via the tracking and data relay satellite system (using data structures and protocols in compliance with the recommendations of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems). A direct downlink system to support distributed users will also be available.