ESA's gravity mission GOCE ready for final testing
Mon Jul 23, 2007 at 12:05 UTC
GOCE, ESA's first satellite dedicated to measuring the Earth's gravity field is ready to be shipped to ESTEC - the space agency's research and technology centre in the Netherlands - for final testing. The spacecraft has been in Italy at Thales Alenia Space, the prime contractor for the development, integration and testing, for roughly nine months where the last subsystems and the payload were integrated on its platform.
The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), the first core Earth Explorer mission to be developed as part of ESA's Living Planet Programme, will significantly advance our knowledge of how the Earth works and provide insight into ocean circulation, sea-level change, climate change, volcanism and earthquakes.
"ESA's gravity satellite will measure Earth's gravity from place to place around the globe to provide a uniform global picture. It will do this with a level of detail and accuracy never before achieved," ESA GOCE Project Scientist, Mark Drinkwater, said. "This fundamental reference dataset will give access to new scientific insights into ocean circulation and its impact on climate, as well as into the structure of the interior of the Earth in critical locations such as earthquake and volcanic zones."
Because the gravitational signal is stronger closer to the Earth, GOCE has been designed to fly in a particularly low orbit - at an altitude of just 250 km. However, the remaining atmosphere at low altitudes creates a demanding environment for the satellite and presented a challenge for its design.
Unlike other missions where various independent instruments are carried aboard the spacecraft, GOCE is unique in that the instrumentation actually forms part of the structure of the satellite. A completely stable, rigid and unchanging local environment is required to acquire extremely high fidelity 'true' gravity readings, so the spacecraft intentionally has no mechanical moving parts.
Image Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja
High resolution image
GOCE in preparation at Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy.
Image Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja
High resolution image
GOCE in preparation at Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy.
The newly developed primary instrument - the gravity gradiometer - measures the terrestrial gravitational field thanks to a set of six ultra-sensitive capacitive sensors. In order to attain the required sensitivity, the gradiometer is combined with a precise GPS-based Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking Instrument to provide accurate three-dimensional positioning of the satellite along its orbit.
Once delivered to ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the spacecraft and gradiometer will undergo the final integration and environmental testing programme to make sure everything is in order to withstand the rigours of launch and the hostile conditions it will experience in space.
In spring 2008, GOCE will be launched on a Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north-western Russia, under the responsibility of the German-Russian launch operator Eurockot.
