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| | | | | | | SMOS satellite instrument comes alive
19 November 2009
| The SMOS Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) consists of a central structure and three deployable arms that carry 69 antenna receivers. From an altitude of 758 km, the SMOS will view an area almost 3000 km in diameter. Due to the interferometry measurement principle and the Y-shaped antenna, the field of view is limited to a hexagon-like shape about 1000 km across. The orbit will result in global coverage every three days.
Credits: ESA – AOES Medialab | |  |  | |
| | | | | The first MIRAS (Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis) signal was received on 17 November 2009 (19:03 UTC) at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), in Villafranca, Spain. MIRAS, the sole instrument on ESA's water mission, was switched on on 17 November at 12:48 UTC. SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), an ESA Earth Explorer satellite, and ESA’s Project for Onboard Autonomy (Proba-2) were launched into orbit together from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Monday 2 November 2009.
Credits: Vicente Ruiz | | | | |
| | | | | SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), an ESA Earth Explorer satellite, was launched into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Monday 2 November 2009.
Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab | | | | |
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| | SMOS launch Replay the launch Related news SMOS forms three-pointed star in the skyTwo new ESA satellites successfully lofted into orbitSMOS and Proba-2 ready for launch ESAC ESA on Youtube  Earth ExplorersChoose a language  Noticia completa
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