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NASA's Blue Marble
Published:
May 5, 2014
NASA’s Blue Marble
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A diagram illustrating the swaths of data that SWOT will collect.
Diagram of SWOT Data Collection
NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for SWOT.
SpaceX Launch Vehicle
Disappearing lakes in Barrow, Alaska.
Disappearing Lakes in Barrow, Alaska
A banner explaining the purpose of the SWOT mission, created and displayed during testing.
Understanding Surface Water Characteristics and Ocean Dynamics
Engineers integrate separate parts of the SWOT satellite into one in a Thales Alenia Space clean room facility in Cannes, France.
Part of the SWOT satellite's science instrument payload in a clean room at a Thales facility.
Pictured are team members who helped load the hardware for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite's research instruments onto a C-17 airplane pose for a picture. The payload left M...
Team members who helped load the hardware onto a C-17 aircraft for SWOT's transfer from Southern, Calif. to Cannes France.
SWOT's nominal coverage during its 3-year science orbit will include measurements between 78°N and 78°S collected over a period of 21 days. Maps show the coverage after 3 days (left) and the full 2...
SWOT Science Orbit
An early rendering of the SWOT spacecraft (February 2011).
SWOT Spacecraft (Artist Concept)
Artist's impression of the future SWOT satellite making sea surface height observations, even through clouds.
Artist's Impression of the SWOT Satellite
The Canadian Space Agency will contribute to the SWOT Mission by providing a high-power assembly component for SWOT’s Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn).
Canadian Space Agency
Canada is home to more than 30,000 lakes including these water bodies in Northern Alberta. The abundance of surface freshwater in Canada makes it a prime target for AirSWOT investigations.
Northern Alberta Lakes, Canada
Teams from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, loaded the scientific payload for the SWOT Earth-observing satelli...
SWOT's scientific payload loading into a U.S. Air Force C-17 airplane for transport to Cannes, France.
A photograph of the Amazon River Delta, captured by Landsat in 2006.
Landsat view of Amazon Delta
Arctic Lakes
Arctic Lakes
A view of SWOT from inside a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft, as it was being loaded en route to Thales Alenia Space near Cannes, France.
A view of SWOT as it was being loaded into a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft en route to Thales Alenia Space near Cannes, France.
This SWOT "Bannerbug" exhibit was created for display during hardware tests conducted during an eleven-day period in October 2008.
SWOT Banner on Display
An artist’s concept of the SWOT spacecraft (January 2012).
SWOT Spacecraft (Artist Concept)
Visiting Scout uses a color-coded, calibrated stick to determine "sea surface topography" within a wooden box while his sister records his results by placing stickers on a card.
Probing the Depths of "SWOT in a Box"
This collaborative mission poster, designed by CNES (French Space Agency), shows the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite soaring over an abstract of a water molecule.
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission Poster
SWOT technologies - advanced wide-swath technology, ocean and surface water topography measurements, and high-resolution products - will support such societal needs as dams, shipping, and surface w...
SWOT Technologies and Societal Needs
SWOT leaving NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, en route to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California. Once the scientific payload arrived, it was sent to a Thale...
SWOT leaving NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California en route to March Air Reserve Base.
Arctic
Arctic
Mounted above the Payload Module, the Spacecraft Bus is a multi-purpose platform housing many of the electronics required for the observatory to function, including components for power, propulsion...
SWOT Spacecraft Bus
SWOT will collect data across a 75-mile (120-kilometer) wide swath, with a gap in the center for an altimetry track. This animation shows the collection of data over the state of Florida, which is ...
This animation shows a simulation of SWOT collecting data over the state of Florida.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Open House visitors are delighted to see how well their color-coded stickers match the "sea surface topography" model of the Gulf Stream within a wooden box.
"SWOT in a Box" Reveal - Gulf Stream Model