NASA And France Pick Up Rhythm For Calipso Launch

EARTH OBSERVATION

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite

Paris - Apr 21, 2004
NASA's CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) instruments completed a successful series of ground tests at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. These instruments will improve worldwide climate predictions and provide a better understanding of how airborne particles and clouds affect our atmosphere.

CALIPSO was then shipped to the Alcatel Space facility in Cannes, France, where the U.S. and French payload will be integrated into a Proteus spacecraft platform. CALIPSO is expected to give the international science community a better understanding of clouds and atmospheric aerosols that influence Earth's climate.

Data from CALIPSO will help create climate predictions for national and international leaders to make policy decisions about global climate change. CALIPSO is a collaborative effort with the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Ball Aerospace, Hampton University and France's Institut Pierre Simon Laplace.

Ball Aerospace is responsible for CALIPSO's scientific instrument and communications suite, including the lidar and wide field camera. CNES provided a three-channel imaging infrared radiometer, will monitor and command CALIPSO on its 36-month mission. Final testing and launch of CALIPSO is at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calf.

CALIPSO will share the Delta II rocket in a dual configuration with NASA's CloudSat, a satellite that will use millimeter wave radar to measure cloud properties from space. Launch is planned for early 2005. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in orbital formation as part of a constellation of Earth-observing satellites including Aqua, PARASOL, and Aura, collectively known as the "A-train."

EARTH OBSERVATION

Dell Contributes 448 Gflops Of Computing Power To Online Database Of Earth Images

Round Rock - Apr 20, 2004
GlobeXplorer LLC, one of the world's leading provider of satellite images and aerial photography via the Internet, is using Dell server technology to speed online access to the vast library of images in its supercomputing data center.

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