May 26 2011

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-104 MEDIA EVENTS SET FOR AQUARIUS/SAC-D SATELLITE LAUNCH NEXT MONTH

WASHINGTON -- The launch of the Aquarius/SAC-D observatory is scheduled for June 9, from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is targeted to occur during a five-minute launch window that opens at 10:20 a.m. EDT (7:20 a.m. PDT). Aquarius is the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft. The observatory was built by Argentina's space agency, CONAE. Aquarius will map global changes in salinity at the ocean surface. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to fundamental climate processes. The Aquarius/SAC-D News Center at the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office will be staffed beginning Wednesday, June 1. Coverage features real-time updates of countdown milestones, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch preparations and liftoff. The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency with participation by Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius science instruments were jointly built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. JPL will manage Aquarius through the mission's commissioning phase and archive mission data. Goddard will manage the mission's operations phase and process Aquarius science data. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida provides launch management. United Launch Alliance of Denver is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7320.

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