#Modis nasa earthview verification#

The acquisition of science data on-board proceeded nominally, and the initial MODIS measurements were successfully downlinked and captured on the ground. On February 24, the Moderate-resolution, Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) opened the Earth view door during a pass over eastern North America. This is the first spaceborne, multi-band TIR image in history that enables geologists to distinguish between rocks with similar compositions. It is inferred that the area with whitish color is covered with basalt and the pinkish area in the center contains andesite. The color difference of this image reflects the distribution of different rocks with different amounts of silicon dioxide. This image is a color composite covering the Rift Valley inland area of Ethiopia. Everyone involved deserves congratulations for the successful ascent of Terra to its operational orbit,' Grady added.

'This performance demonstrates the quality and commitment of the entire Terra Operations Team. Following the initial orbit raising attempt the Terra team developed a revised plan with eight maneuvers required to raise Terra's orbit. 'Terra is now flying on the World Reference System (WRS), on the same ground track as Landsat 7. 'Terra's final ascent maneuvers were successfully performed,' said Kevin Grady, Terra project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. With these data Terra starts a revolution in Earth Sciences, by observing simultaneously many of the processes in land, ocean and atmosphere that form the Earth System in which we live.' The images give us a glimpse on the unprecedented clarity and richness of the data that we anticipate from Terra in the months and years to come. 'They show that the Terra instruments, with their delicate optics and electronics made it safely to space. Yoram Kaufman, Terra Project Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 'We're very excited to see the first engineering images from Terra,' said Dr. Terra's ground system is providing excellent support for spacecraft command and control, and is performing nominally for the capture and processing of Terra data. Terra's spacecraft subsystems continue to perform flawlessly, with almost all systems now in their operational science mode. This event was a culmination of years of work for the Terra team with the acquisition Terra's first engineering images.

#Modis nasa earthview verification#

Photo: NASAĪfter eleven weeks of on-orbit checkout and verification and a series of orbital ascent maneuvers, the Terra Spacecraft reached its final orbit on February 23rd. Some features clearly visible on the image are the classic bird's foot shape of the Mississippi River's channels in the delta, sediment plumes around the delta and between the barrier islands north of it and differences in ocean color between the shallow bays behind the barrier islands and the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It covers an area of 100km by 100km over New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. This image of the Mississippi Delta was obtained on February 24 and is one of the first scenes acquired by the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra. NASA's Terra spacecraft returns first images to Earth Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | NASA's Terra spacecraft returns first images to Earth