Terra's Orbital Drift

In 2020, Terra completed its final inclination maneuver, using some of its limited fuel supply, to maintain that crossing time. Since that final inclination maneuver, Terra has continuously drifted to an earlier equatorial crossing time. To ensure Terra, with limited fuel supplies, is a safe distance from other missions in the Earth Observing Satellite constellation orbit, Terra will be lowered to a new orbit in 2022, where it will be able to collect valuable data at an even earlier crossing time. As Terra’s crossing time creeps earlier, small changes will be noticeable in the data and imagery collected by the instruments aboard Terra. The impact on science is expected to be minimal. In fact, some impacts could prove beneficial to some areas of research, like land morphology, surface temperature, and climate research.

Read more: https://terra.nasa.gov/about/terra-orbital-drift

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Liz Wilk (KBRwyle): Lead Producer
Kel Elkins (USRA): Lead Visualizer
Tassia Owen (GST): Lead Project Support
Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle): Narrator
Lahouari Bounoua (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Robert E Wolfe (NASA): Scientist
Kurtis Thome (NASA): Scientist
Dimitrios Mantziaras (NASA): Engineer
Jason Hendrickson (KBRwyle): Engineer

Music credit: "From Small Beginnings," by Jay Price [PRS]; Universal Production Music

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