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posted by martyb on Saturday September 15 2018, @08:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the Amazing-GRACE dept.

GRACE-FO Satellite Switching to Backup Instrument Processing Unit

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission team plans to switch to a backup system in the Microwave Instrument (MWI) on one of the twin spacecraft this month. Following the switch-over, GRACE-FO is expected to quickly resume science data collection.

A month after launching this past May, GRACE-FO produced its first preliminary gravity field map. The mission has not acquired science data since mid-July due to an anomaly with a component of the Microwave Instrument on one of the GRACE-FO spacecraft. The mission team is completing its investigation into the cause of the anomaly.

The primary science objective of GRACE-FO -- like its predecessor GRACE, which operated from 2002 to 2017 -- is to track how water is redistributed on Earth, by producing highly accurate, monthly gravity field maps. Measurements of changes in Earth's gravity field provide measurements of mass change and enable unique insights into Earth's changing climate, Earth system processes like droughts and sea level changes, and the impacts of human activities on water resources.

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment.

Previously: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Ends, "Follow-On" Launching Soon
SpaceX to Launch 5 Iridium Next and 2 GRACE Satellites Today: Tuesday May 22 @ 19:47:58 UTC


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @05:04PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @05:04PM (#736060)

    They probably used lead-free solder on the circuit boards.

    Yeah, well, that doesn't apply here. Too early. Learn a little.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @09:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17 2018, @09:08PM (#736190)

    You need to learn about the rules of spit balling. It's fine to criticize another theory, but you also have to put up your own. I'm sure RoHS solder can fail after any number of thermal cycles. What I don't know is if they actually used it.