Terra bears state-of-the-art instruments, including two managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to study interactions between the land, atmosphere, ocean and life on the planet.

Terra, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is the NASA flagship mission in a new series of spacecraft dedicated to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Terra carries five sophisticated instruments with measurement and accuracy capabilities never before flown.

Terra takes a global approach to data collection that will enable scientists to study the interaction among the four spheres of the Earth system -- the oceans, lands, atmosphere and biosphere. Long-term weather and climate prediction requires the collection of better data over longer periods to understand the links between these spheres.

The two instruments managed by JPL are:

• The JPL-built Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer, called MISR, which will improve our understanding of the Earth's ecology and climate by studying how changes in the amounts, types, and distribution of clouds, airborne particulates, and surface covers can affect our climate.

• The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, called ASTER, a joint U.S.-Japanese instrument, which will produce detailed global, regional and local image maps of land surface temperature, reflectance and elevation and other characteristics. ASTER is the only high-spatial resolution instrument on Terra, and the instrument's ability to serve as a "zoom" lens for the other instruments will be particularly important for land studies, detecting surface changes, and for calibrating instruments.

Meanwhile, TRW has successfully tested and completed the Earth Observing System (EOS) data and operations system (EDOS) for NASA's Terra satellite, which is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Thursday.

Terra, a remote sensing satellite, will observe phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, sending back data about climate patterns that likely will enable scientists to predict floods, severe winters and other weather events.

Terra will send the nearly half a trillion bytes of data it will produce each day to the EDOS ground system at White Sands, N.M. The information will be stored at White Sands and sent to the EDOS installation at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where it will be archived, processed and distributed to various NASA centers and, ultimately, users worldwide. Scientists will use data provided by TRW's EDOS to build computer models that simulate how the Earth behaves.

TRW Systems & Information Technology Group, headquartered in Reston, Va., is the prime contractor for the $131 million EDOS contract, which was awarded in 1994. Performing work from its program office in Greenbelt, Md., TRW is supported by Allied Corporation, Columbia, Md.; EER Systems, Seabrook, Md.; Federal Data Corporation, Greenbelt, Md.; and Harris Corporation of Melbourne, Fla.

"Terra will provide a quantum leap in our data gathering capability," says Joe Dalven, TRW program manager. "EDOS is the critical link in disseminating the environmental data to the science community so it can better understand our Earth. The models they develop will help to better predict and address the impact of human activities on future global climatic changes."

EDOS is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term, coordinated program to understand how Earth's resources interact to create the planet's environment and its effects on humans. The earth observing satellites are the centerpiece of the program, which is expected to provide benefits ranging from improved long-term weather forecasting to improved management of agricultural resources.

The Terra satellite is the largest of a series of spacecraft being constructed for the Earth Science Enterprise. TRW Space & Electronics Group, a sister group headquartered in Redondo Beach, Calif., is building two EOS spacecraft -- EOS PM and EOS Chemistry -- and providing the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument for the missions. TRW Space & Electronics Group builds communications, scientific and defense spacecraft.

"The TRW EDOS team is proud to support the launch of the NASA EOS Terra satellite," said Jerry Agee, vice president and general manager of TRW Federal Enterprise Solutions. "The 'big picture' perspective provided by Terra will help scientists better understand how the earth behaves. This global knowledge will also bring local benefits, giving people information about what is happening, or will happen, with the weather in their own 'backyard'."

Atlas-2 Data Sheet at Space and Tech

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