Terra
Robotic missionActive with reduced instrument operations
Terra inaugurates NASA's flagship Earth Observing System with coordinated measurements of the entire planet
Terra launched on December 18, 1999 into descending morning sun-synchronous . The about 10,723 pounds (4,864 kilograms) satellite carried aster, ceres, misr, modis, and mopitt instruments spanning surface imaging, radiation budget, aerosols, vegetation, temperature, and atmospheric chemistry. Terra built multi-decade records of land cover, fires, vegetation, clouds, aerosols, carbon monoxide, surface temperature, elevation, and Earth's radiation balance. After more than twenty-six years, power limits led to selected instrument shutdowns while remaining sensors continued collecting data.
Mission photo archive
Reviewed images documenting Terra. Each image includes its source and credit.
Terra official development-flight photograph
An exact NASA Earth Observatory photographic montage composed of real frames from Terra's December 18, 1999 Atlas IIAS launch and ascent.
Launch record
Explore this mission’s launch, including its vehicle, launch site, payload, and outcome.
EOS AM-1
launch attemptOrbital attemptcompletedNo reviewed launch image5 connectionsMission dossier
Flight profile, locations, hardware, and outcome in the same reference format used throughout the archive.
Flight profile
- Launch
- December 18, 1999[1]
Places and recovery
Mission record
- Operator
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with U.S., Japanese, and Canadian partners[1]
- Mission type
- Uncrewed Earth-observation and climate satellite[1]
- Launch vehicle
- Atlas IIAS[1]
- Launch mass
- about 10,723 pounds (4,864 kilograms)[1]
- Program
- Earth Observing System[1]
- Crew complement
- 0[1]
- Science payload
- ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS, and MOPITT instruments spanning surface imaging, radiation budget, aerosols, vegetation, temperature, and atmospheric chemistry[1]
- Outcome
- Active with reduced instrument operations[1]
Trajectory profile
4 sourcesFollow the mission from departure through its flight environment, destination, and final phase. This sequence is not a scale orbital plot.
Mission locations
4 sourcesDocumented surface, test, landing, and recovery locations. Map links use the cited place name or exact coordinates; AstronautAtlas does not geocode or estimate missing positions.
Departure or test site
Launch site
Vandenberg, California
Mission Purpose
4 sources- Measure interactions among Earth's land, atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, biology, and radiation budget through coordinated global observations from a single flagship platform.
- Commission and calibrate Terra Earth-observation satellite, its orbit, pointing, communications, power, thermal, timing, and science-processing systems.
- Coordinate overlapping measurements with constellation partners and release stable geophysical data products through NASA's permanent Earth-science archives.
- Terra built multi-decade records of land cover, fires, vegetation, clouds, aerosols, carbon monoxide, surface temperature, elevation, and Earth's radiation balance. After more than twenty-six years, power limits led to selected instrument shutdowns while remaining sensors continued collecting data.
Planned Flight Plan
4 sources- December 18, 1999
Terra launches
Atlas IIAS deploys the satellite toward its Earth-observation orbit.
- Orbit acquisition
Establish the observing ground track
Controllers activate the spacecraft and maneuver or drift it into the required orbit and constellation position.
- Commissioning
Calibrate the science payload
Teams validate detector response, pointing, timing, geolocation, overlap observations, and archive products.
- Science operations
Terra inaugurates NASA's flagship Earth Observing System with coordinated measurements of the entire planet
Terra built multi-decade records of land cover, fires, vegetation, clouds, aerosols, carbon monoxide, surface temperature, elevation, and Earth's radiation balance. After more than twenty-six years, power limits led to selected instrument shutdowns while remaining sensors continued collecting data.
Mission Timeline
4 sources- December 18, 1999
Launch
Terra begins aboard Atlas IIAS.
- Checkout
Satellite commissioning
Controllers validate orbit, communications, pointing, instruments, and data processing.
- Science milestone
Terra inaugurates NASA's flagship Earth Observing System with coordinated measurements of the entire planet
Terra built multi-decade records of land cover, fires, vegetation, clouds, aerosols, carbon monoxide, surface temperature, elevation, and Earth's radiation balance. After more than twenty-six years, power limits led to selected instrument shutdowns while remaining sensors continued collecting data.
Open operation record - Recorded outcome
Active with reduced instrument operations
Terra's calibrated measurements remain part of the permanent Earth-observation archive.