ESA Portal - France - GOCE : le champ de gravité terrestre à la carte

Multimedia

ESA Multimedia gallery

Services

Calendrier RSS feeds

GOCE : le champ de gravité terrestre à la carte

3 septembre 2008

Retour a l'article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 1499 kb)

HI-RES TIFF (Size: 10 289 kb)

In orbit, the same side of the GOCE satellite remains facing the Sun. The spacecraft is equipped with four body-mounted and two wing-mounted solar panels. Due to the configuration in orbit, the solar panels will experience extreme temperature variations so it was necessary to use materials that will tolerate temperatures as high as 160ºC and as low as -170ºC.

Credits: ESA–AOES-Medialab

6 accéléromètres ultra sensibles

Retour a l'article

Download:

HI-RES MOV (Size: 2244 kb)

GOCE will map the global variations in Earth's gravity with extreme detail and provide a unique model of the gravity field and geoid. The geoid is the surface of equal gravitational potential defined by the gravity field and is crucial for improving our understanding of ocean circulation, sea-level change and terrestrial ice dynamics, all of which are affected by climate change. GOCE-derived data will also provide new insight into processes occurring in the lithosphere and upper mantle. In addition, data will be used for practical applications such as surveying and levelling.

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

GOCE launch

Launch diary