Mission Concept
NASA's New Millennium is a unique
program that tests advanced technologies in space flight. Space
testing provides a critical bridge from technology development to
technology use in future science missions. Such testing enables
researchers and scientists to check out high-risk technologies and
concepts in an environment——space——that can't be replicated
in Earth laboratories.
NMP's
objectives are to facilitate technology development, validate the
new technology, and then infuse the successfully tested technology
into future missions and commercial and scientific applications.
Applying these objectives to EO3's GIFTS involves developing a technologically
advanced imaging spectrometer that will incorporate the key elements
of an optical remote sensing system. This imaging spectrometer plus
six other highly developed technologies will be placed in geosynchronous
orbit to observe atmospheric conditions in large regions of our
planet for extended periods of time. Government, academic, and industry
partners are developing these technologies.
Once the instrument is developed, it will fly as part of a joint, two-phase mission with the
Department
of the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR). ONR will fund and manage the Indian Ocean Meteorological Imager, called IOMI, which will image the Indian Ocean
region to collect meteorological data. Such data——ocean currents and weather patterns——will aid ship and aircraft routing.
During the first mission phase (the EO3 phase), IOMI
will demonstrate the operational utility of GIFTS imaging technologies
by providing meteorological products (results) directly to shipboard
and shore-based installations in and around the Indian Ocean. Following
the EO3 phase, NASA will transfer the GIFTS instrument to Navy control for the second phase.
GIFTS-IOMI will fly onboard a TRW-developed
spacecraft. The spacecraft will accommodate the communication bandwidth
required for transmitting raw data to the ground where the algorithms
for on-board data compression are validated. This is an important
risk-reduction feature for future operational systems. It is also
important to test the long-term effects of space on the detectors
and composite materials. Such testing requires the rigor of space
flight to determine readiness for use of such components and materials
in operational systems.
To prove that GIFTS measurement concept——consisting of the
advanced instrument and algorithms——works as planned, its data gathering
techniques will be verified against current practices.
The water vapor, wind direction, temperature, and cloud data of Earth's atmosphere that is collected
during the EO3 phase of the joint mission will be compared to data
simultaneously collected from ground and aircraft weather observing
platforms. Once control of the GIFTS instrument passes to the Navy
at the onset of the IOMI phase, the data will be used in routine
operations. NASA, the US Navy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration will validate the GIFTS instrument throughout the
joint mission.
GIFTS technologies will be flight-qualified, in its space-borne
test laboratory, for use in future science missions. The science
data of the GIFTS-IOMI mission will aid in future prediction of
severe weather conditions and extend the range of global weather
forecasting.
Introduction | Mission Concept
