Terra / EOS AM-1 Spacecraft Launch Site Operations and On-Orbit Activation

The Terra Spacecraft has completed its first year of operation!!

The Terra / EOS AM-1 spacecraft was successfully
launched at 1857 GMT on December 18, 1999
(1:57pm Eastern, 10:57 am Pacific time).

The Terra spacecraft has been in orbit for over one year and has produced
stunning images and data during its first year of operation.
The spacecraft has generated over 438 terabytes (438,000,000,000 bytes) of science data.
Several of the instruments have released validated science data
to the scientific community.

Congratulations to the entire Terra team for your outstanding accomplishment!

The spacecraft is now fully operational. All of the instruments are now collecting science data.
Science Images from the spacecraft are now available! To see them, please follow the links below:

Current Terra spacecraft status
Terra images from Visible Earth site
Science Image Gallery at NASA Terra Web Site
Terra Image Links Page - great pictures!
NASA GSFC PAO Terra Site: "First Light" Images

Terra News Links Page - News and Reports on Terra!

New Items:

NASA has posted an article entitled "Learning to Fly,", which describes the
launch and activation of the Terra spacecraft from the perspective
of mission control.

The Terra spacecraft recently won a "Best of What's New" award from
Popular Science magazine. Check it out by clicking below:
Terra Satellite Wins Award from Popular Science

Did you know...that Terra collects over 200 gigabytes of data per day...
...about the same that the Hubble Space Telescope collects in one year!

The Atlas IIAS launch vehicle provided excellent performance and placed the spacecraft in the correct orbit.

Communications were immediately established with the spacecraft via the omni antennas. Separation from the launch vehicle occured as expected. The solar array was deployed within 30 minutes after launch, immediately began producing power and quickly charged the spacecraft batteries. The high gain antenna (HGA) was deployed later the same day, completing all mechanism deployments. The spacecraft is flying in a polar orbit in formation with Landsats 4, 5 and 7.

Activation of spacecraft systems, including the science instruments, was completed in March 2000. The spacecraft is in excellent condition, and was declared fully operational on April 19, 2000.

Spacecraft operations are being conducted from the EOS Operations Center (EOC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland.

Click here for the NASA mission status page.

The smooth launch and spacecraft performance are a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire Terra EOS AM-1 team!

Photographs of the launch from the spacecraft control center:

The author of this site is currently at the EOC supporting initial checkout of the spacecraft.
Additional information and pictures will be added soon.
Thanks for your interest in the Terra program!

Links to Terra Launch Pictures and Reports:

Pictures of the Terra launch at the NASA Terra site
Pictures of the Terra launch and other Atlas Launches at the Lockheed Martin Astronautics Site

AC-141 Launch Pictures and Movies from the Lockheed Martin Astronautics ADMS Site

Lockheed Martin press release on the Terra launch
Lockheed Martin Astronautics Report on Terra/AC_141 launch
Terra launch status report from SpaceflightNow.com
Terra launch report from Florida Today's Space Online
Terra launch report from CNN's space page

Launch day was the day that hundreds of people from around the world have dreamed for
and worked very hard for, over the span of a decade.
It was truly a thrill to see the rocket lifting off and carrying the spacecraft into orbit.

We of the Terra team are thankful for a successful launch
and an excellent start to this important mission.
We would like to thank our families and friends who have supported us in many ways along the way.
Godspeed, Terra!

Note: for an older version of this site, with more pictures of our activities at VAFB, please click below.
Older version of this site (pre-launch)

(When I get a chance, I will consolidate them a bit better.)

This site is intended to provide information on the preparation of the
Terra / Earth Observing System (EOS) AM-1 spacecraft for launch, and initial on-orbit operations of the spacecraft.
The spacecraft is the flagship of the Earth Observing System program and was built by
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center.
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The Terra spacecraft will observe the Earth using sophisticated instruments built by
the United States, Canada and Japan. An international team of engineers, scientists, technicians and others have participated in the design, construction and testing of the Terra spacecraft.

Click here for drawings and information about the spacecraft.

The Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space team recently was granted a
100% award fee milestone by our NASA customer.

Check out the NASA/GSFC Terra web site by clicking here.

Read the CNN story on Terra by clicking here.

Terra was featured as the cover story of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine for October 4.

Read a Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space LM Today newletter article on the Terra spacecraft and its mission.

Read the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space press release on delivery of the Terra spacecraft.

Photo of the spacecraft inside the payload fairing immediately prior to launch:

Photo of the encapsulated spacecraft, during lift onto the launch vehicle at SLC-3E:

Photo of the spacecraft and the payload fairing, prior to fairing closure:

Photograph of the spacecraft on the launch vehicle adapter prior to move to the STV.
The Payload Fairing is in the background.

Click below for more pictures of the encapsulation process:
Spacecraft Encapsulation

Follow these links for pictures of the Terra spacecraft in the PPF high bay:
Spacecraft in PPF in Vertical Position
Spacecraft in PPF in Horizontal Position

Follow this link for more details on instrument operations.

Pictures of the Transport of the Terra Spacecraft to VAFB:
SC Transport to VAFB
Pictures of Previous Operations at VAFB:
Preparations for CPT

Here is a photograph of the Payload Processing Facility at Astrotech Space Operations, where work on the Terra spacecraft was
performed prior to the spacecraft being moved to the launch pad.
The spacecraft launch control team was in the control rooms at Astrotech during the launch.

Our thanks to the Astrotech team for their excellent support!