Oceanography Satellite Ends 11-Year Mission
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Oceanography satellite ends 11-year mission - Spaceflight Now
A joint U.S.-European satellite mission that measured rising sea levels for 11 years is ending due to the deteriorating condition of the spacecraft's power system, officials said Friday.
The Jason 2 satellite was designed to operate for three to five years, but it outlived its design life and continued collecting precise sea level measurements through the launch of a replacement spacecraft - Jason 3 - in January 2016.
During its 11-year mission, Jason 2 charted nearly 2 inches (5 centimeters) of global sea level rise, an observation scientists attribute to a rise in average global temperatures.
"Today we celebrate the end of this resoundingly successful international mission," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the NASA science mission directorate. "Jason-2/OSTM has provided unique insight into ocean currents and sea level rise with tangible benefits to marine forecasting, meteorology and our understanding of climate change."
Ground teams noticed signs of aging from the Jason 2 satellite in 2017, and officials ordered controllers at NOAA's satellite operations center in Maryland to command the spacecraft to move out of its original 830-mile-high (1,336-kilometer) science orbit to a slightly lower altitude away from other operational missions.
Jason 2 also depleted excess propellant reserves in 2017, but the satellite continued collecting scientific data. The lower orbit meant Jason 2's measurements of the same location on the ocean were less frequent, but the resolution of the data improved, allowing scientists to conduct marine gravity studies and map seafloor topography, officials said.
[...] Issues with Jason 2's power system in recent weeks prompted mission managers to "passivate" the spacecraft and end the mission in order reduce the risk of the satellite becoming a source of space junk. Jason 2 ended scientific observations Oct. 1, and the satellite will be decommissioned Oct. 10, officials said in a statement.
"With the recent degradation of the spacecraft's power system, mission partners decided to end the mission to decrease risks to other satellites and future altimetry missions, and to comply with French space law," the mission partners said in a statement.
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