TOMS-EP [NASA]
TOMS-EP (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer - Earth Probe) is contributing to NASA's long-term daily monitoring of the global distribution of the Earth's ozone layer.
TOMS was selected in 1989 as a small Explorer (SMEX) under the Explorer program, but received no funding. Transferred to NASA's Earth Probe program, it was finally funded and renamed TOMS-EP.
The satellite was built by TRW for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The T100 bus was utilized. The single instrument was the TOMS-3 (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer 3). The spacecraft was three-axis stabilized so that the TOMS instrument was nadir-pointed with about 0.5° control and about 0.1° knowledge from measured altitude data. The TOMS-EP spacecraft bus was designed to accomodate all of the TOMS instrument requirements to support a two-year lifetime with a three-year lifetime goal.
Launch failures of the first two Pegasus-XL vehicles have caused a 2 year delay in the launch of TOMS-EP. These delays have caused the mission to be altered. TOMS-EP has been placed into a lower orbit than originally planned in a effort to achieve higher resolution measurements and to study UV-absorbing aerosols in the troposphere more thoroughly. The lower orbit therefore complements measurements taken from the ADEOS TOMS instrument.
Nation: | USA |
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Type / Application: | Earth observation |
Operator: | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) |
Contractors: | TRW |
Equipment: | TOMS-3 |
Configuration: | T100 |
Propulsion: | Hydrazine propulsion system with eight thrusters |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 2 years (design) |
Mass: | 295 kg |
Orbit: | 493 km × 511 km, 97.44° |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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TOMS-EP (ex TOMS) | 1996-037A | 02.07.1996 | Va, L-1011, RW30/12 | Pegasus-XL |
Further SMEX missions:
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