Terra is in Orbit!

December 18, was an exciting day! Successful launch of Terra occurred at 10:57:39 AM PST, 10 seconds before the close of the launch window. Time was needed during the window to program the on-board computers to adjust for high altitude winds, and to obtain a "go" condition for the somewhat windy conditions. This made for a very suspenseful morning, nevertheless the rocket lifted off spectacularly into sunny skies, and separation of the spacecraft occurred on schedule about 14 minutes after launch. The initial orbit parameters are near-perfect, and deployment of the solar array occurred about 40 minutes after launch. MISR survival heaters were turned on around noon PST. Another major milestone was reached late yesterday afternoon with successful deployment of the high gain antenna. Readings of MISR electronics, optical bench, and radiator temperatures via spacecraft telemetry have pretty much stabilized and are showing small variations through the night-day transitions, as expected.

Turn-on of the MISR instrument is scheduled for early tomorrow (Monday, December 20) morning, followed by unlatching of the cover and the two calibration panels. These will remain stowed for the time being during the outgas period. Turn-of the cameras, optical bench heaters, and focal plane heaters to start the outgas period is scheduled for Tuesday, December 21.

David Diner