Terra
Terra is NASA's first Earth Observing System flagship, carrying ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT to study interactions among land, atmosphere and oceans. Its long record supports land-change, aerosol, cloud, radiation and atmospheric-pollution research. The aging spacecraft entered an orbit with drifting local observation times after orbit-maintenance changes, so later measurements require attention to sampling differences. MOPITT was placed in safe mode in February 2025 and switched off on April 9, 2025 to conserve power. Terra's instrument histories must therefore be considered separately from the spacecraft's continuing mission.
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Identity
- Aliases
- EOS AM-1EOS-AM1Earth Observing System AM-1AC-141
- Name
- Terra
- Status
- active
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- Terra is NASA's first Earth Observing System flagship, carrying ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT to study interactions among land, atmosphere and oceans. Its long record supports land-change, aerosol, cloud, radiation and atmospheric-pollution research. The aging spacecraft entered an orbit with drifting local observation times after orbit-maintenance changes, so later measurements require attention to sampling differences. MOPITT was placed in safe mode in February 2025 and switched off on April 9, 2025 to conserve power. Terra's instrument histories must therefore be considered separately from the spacecraft's continuing mission.
- Destination
- Near-polar, sun-synchronous Earth orbit at approximately 705 km altitude and 98.2° inclination for studying interactions among Earth’s atmosphere, land, oceans, and radiant energy, including natural hazards such as fires and volcanoes
- Launch Site
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1999-12-18
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/terra/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 22:43:04 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 15:13:02 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles