Coriolis (satellite)
 Image of the Windsat component undergoing testing |
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| Operator | NRL, AFRL |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Earth and Solar observation |
| Launch date | January 6, 2003 |
| Launch vehicle | Titan II |
| Launch site | Vandenberg AFB |
| COSPAR ID | 2003-001A |
| Mass | 395 kg |
| Power | 1174 W |
| Orbital elements | |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Eccentricity | 0.0013869626 |
| Inclination | 98.7° |
| Apoapsis | 842 km |
| Periapsis | 822 km |
| Orbital period | 101.6 min |
| Instruments | |
| Main instruments | WindSat, SMEI |
The Coriolis satellite is a Naval Research Laboratory and Air Force Research Laboratory earth and space observation satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, on 2003-01-06 at 14:19 GMT.
Contents |
Instruments [edit]
Windsat [edit]
WINDSAT is a joint Integrated Program Office/Department of Defense demonstration project, intended to measure ocean surface wind speed and wind direction from space using a polarimetric radiometer.
Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) [edit]
The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) is an instrument intended to detect disturbances in the solar wind by means of imaging scattered light from the free electrons in the plasma of the solar wind. To do this three CCD cameras observe sections of the sky of size 60 by 3 degree.
As the SMEI instrument observers the whole sky, data generated has been used to observe periodic changes in the brightness of stars. This data be used to detect asteroseismological oscillation in giant stars, and for the detection of large eclipsing extra-solar planets.
References [edit]
Ray, Justin. "Coriolis launched to track ocean winds, solar storms". Spaceflight Now.
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