Aquarius SAC-D Launch
The Delta II rocket with it's Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft payload is seen as the service structure is rolled back on Thursday, June 9, 2011, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The joint U.S./Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D mission, launched on June 10, to map the salinity at the ocean surface, information critical to improving our understanding of two major components of Earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation. The mission ended ended on June 8, 2015, when an essential part of the power and attitude control system for the SAC-D spacecraft, which carries NASA's Aquarius instrument, stopped operating.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Image Number: 201106090001HQ
Date: June 9, 2011
Aquarius SAC-D Launch
The Delta II rocket with it's Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft payload is seen as the service structure is rolled back on Thursday, June 9, 2011, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The joint U.S./Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D mission, launched on June 10, to map the salinity at the ocean surface, information critical to improving our understanding of two major components of Earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation. The mission ended ended on June 8, 2015, when an essential part of the power and attitude control system for the SAC-D spacecraft, which carries NASA's Aquarius instrument, stopped operating.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Image Number: 201106090001HQ
Date: June 9, 2011