The high-gain antenna on Terra stopped tracking on Sunday, just one day after the $1.3-billion climate monitoring satellite was launched.
The antenna, which will play a crucial role in transmitting to Earth the 850 gigabytes of scientific data Terra is expected to gather on a daily basis during its six-year mission, stopped around 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time while the satellite was in the initial stages of activation and testing.
The spacecraft otherwise remains in perfect health and in communication with Earth via its omni- antenna and through ground tracking, said Mark Hess, a spokesman at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.
Hess said NASA has delayed re-starting the activation sequence for the satellite until after this holiday weekend.
He added the glitch would likely only slow, not hamper, the entire 90-day process required before the satellite begins its scientific undertaking.
"A day here, a day there in the scheme of things is not a great deal," Hess said.
Terra uses the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) as its main communications link with the Earth. However, TDRSS time is at a premium this week, with Space Shuttle Discovery now in orbit and the satellites Kompsat and Acrimsat set for launch early Tuesday, Hess said.
Engineers are now putting together a plan for the next time they are able to establish continuous communications with Terra through the satellite network, Hess said.
"We're confident that we're going to understand the source of what caused this glitch," said Buddy Nelson, a spokesman for satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Nelson added the problem could have been caused by the South Atlantic Anomaly, an area where the Earth's magnetic field varies.
NASA intends Terra to be the flagship of its Earth Observing System of satellites. It will use its suite of five instruments to monitor in detail the interplay of the Earths oceans, land and atmosphere to help researchers study how they act and react as a system.
The satellite was launched Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California aboard an Atlas 2-AS/Centaur rocket.
advertisement
