Latest A-train Stories

Its construction now complete, the science instrument that is the heart of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) spacecraft - NASA's first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide - has left its nest at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and has arrived at its integration and test site in Gilbert, Ariz. A truck carrying the OCO-2 instrument left JPL before dawn on Tuesday, May 9, to begin the trek to Orbital Science Corporation's Satellite...

HAMPTON, Va., June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For a satellite that's only five years old, CALIPSO has accomplished a lot. The Earth-observing spacecraft took its three-billionth photo - actually a "lidar profile" - on June 2. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) June 7 marked the fifth year in space for the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite. For images go to...

The Glory spacecraft and its Taurus XL launch vehicle are coming together at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as NASA gets ready to launch its first Launch Services Program mission of 2011.Researchers are looking for more puzzle pieces to fill out the picture of Earth's climate and Glory was designed to give them the pieces relating to the role tiny particles known as aerosols play in the planet's weather. The spacecraft, about the size of a refrigerator, is also equipped with an...

Engineers at Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va., have successfully replaced a faulty component that could have had serious consequences for the Glory satellite, NASA's next climate-monitoring mission. In June, Glory engineers noticed a problem with one of the solar array drive assemblies, or SADAs, that appeared initially like it would take five or six months to repair.However, nimble responses from two engineering companies contracted by the Glory team -- New York City-based...

Mention the "A-Train" and most people probably think of the jazz legend Billy Strayhorn or perhaps New York City subway trains "” not climate change. However, it turns out that a convoy of "A-Train" satellites has emerged as one of the most powerful tools scientists have for understanding our planet's changing climate.The formation of satellites "” which currently includes Aqua, CloudSat, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) and...

Using data from several research satellites, scientists will spend the next three years trying to understand the climate impacts of about 770 million tons of dust carried into the atmosphere every year from the Sahara Desert.Some Saharan dust falls back to Earth before it leaves Africa. Some of it streams out over the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea, carried on the wind as far away as South America and the southeastern U.S. All of it has an as-yet unmeasured impact on Earth's energy...

After nearly 5 years of concurrent operations with the Afternoon Constellation, known as the "A-Train," the PARASOL satellite is going on another orbit "track." The A-Train includes a number of NASA satellites that orbit the Earth one behind the other on the same track and until this month, PARASOL has been part of that train.PARASOL is an Earth observation mission, managed by the French Space Agency (CNES). PARASOL stands for "Polarization and Anisotropy of...

The U.S. space agency said it is funding development of a satellite data system to provide aircraft pilots with updates about severe ocean storms. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and at the University of Wisconsin are developing a prototype system that combines satellite data and computer weather models with cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques. The goal is to help guide pilots away from intense storms. Turbulence is the leading cause...

HAMPTON, Va., April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A space-borne lidar mission developed by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) has successfully made the switch from its first laser to its back-up, guaranteeing a continued stream of data that is allowing scientists to better understand the complex roles clouds and aerosols play in Earth's climate. The extended data set will help capture the pattern of year-to-year variations in cloudiness and the...

The often contentious debate about global warming has been absent a critical component:  an accurate measurement of precisely how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is in the air, and how it is being recycled by the planet.To address the matter, NASA will embark on a new mission early next year called the Orbital Carbon Observatory (OCO). "We will uncover all kinds of patterns and cycles in carbon dioxide that people never thought existed. It'll be just like when the first ozone measurements...