“Since 2010, CryoSat has utilized its Synthetic Radar Altimeter (SAR) to keep track of land and sea ice everywhere on Earth to assist scientists show the important function ice plays in controling environment and being affected by international warming,” says Tommaso Parrinello, CryoSat Mission Manager. Credit: ESAHow Did You Save the Satellite?CryoSat has a secondary, backup propulsion system linked to its fuel tank.On November 21, at 10:45 CET, operators at ESOC initiated the swap to this backup system, as CryoSat passed over Svalbard station on Spitzbergen Island and ESAs Kiruna station in Sweden.First, leaving the primary thrusters connected, they opened the main valve to the backup propulsion system for the very first time in CryoSats 13 years in space.At ESOC in Germany, CryoSats spacecraft operations engineers and the group from Airbus kept track of screens as the pressure increased– both inside the backup propulsion system on CryoSat and in the control room on Earth.The pressure in the backup system stabilized– showing that it was not suffering from any major concerns of its own– and the satellites onboard computer was instructed to use the backup thrusters instead of the main thrusters that it has used since launch.And then … silence.On November 21-22, 2023, groups at ESAs ESOC mission control center in Darmstadt Germany added as much as 5 to 10 additional years to ESAs CryoSat ice-mapping mission. The extension of CryoSats observations would bridge the gap and keep the longest unbroken record of changing global ice weve ever had.Meanwhile, a novel partnership with NASAs ice tracking satellite ICESat-2, which combines the orbits of ICESat-2 and CryoSat to map snow on ice– a considerable cause of unpredictability in our estimates– might improve the accuracy of satellite measurements of ice volume yet further.The findings will be straight applicable likewise to future ice missions, consisting of CRISTAL.With constant enhancements to CryoSats data items, which cover not just sea ice and land ice however polar oceans, coastal oceans and inland waters, ESAs ice objective still has plenty to offer.
“Since 2010, CryoSat has actually utilized its Synthetic Radar Altimeter (SAR) to keep an eye on land and sea ice everywhere on Earth to help researchers show the essential function ice plays in regulating climate and being affected by international warming,” states Tommaso Parrinello, CryoSat Mission Manager. A pressure regulator converts the high-pressure air into much lower pressure for use by the thrusters.Together with the specialists at the satellites manufacturer, Airbus, the ESA team has identified the location of the leak to one of CryoSats smaller sized attitude thrusters.At initially, the leak rate was small, but it increased over the very first few years and has actually reached a steady rate that would still bring the CryoSat objective to the end in 2025. Credit: ESAHow Did You Save the Satellite?CryoSat has a secondary, backup propulsion system connected to its fuel tank.On November 21, at 10:45 CET, operators at ESOC initiated the swap to this backup system, as CryoSat passed over Svalbard station on Spitzbergen Island and ESAs Kiruna station in Sweden.First, leaving the primary thrusters connected, they opened the main valve to the backup propulsion system for the very first time in CryoSats 13 years in space.At ESOC in Germany, CryoSats spacecraft operations engineers and the group from Airbus kept an eye on screens as the pressure rose– both inside the backup propulsion system on CryoSat and in the control space on Earth.The pressure in the backup system stabilized– suggesting that it was not suffering from any significant issues of its own– and the satellites onboard computer was advised to use the backup thrusters instead of the main thrusters that it has actually used since launch.And then … silence.On November 21-22, 2023, groups at ESAs ESOC mission control center in Darmstadt Germany added as much as 5 to 10 additional years to ESAs CryoSat ice-mapping mission.”Thankfully, 25 minutes later, CryoSat increased above the horizon of the Troll ground station in Antarctica totally functional.With the proper performance of the backup mindset control thrusters validated, the main valve to the primary thrusters was closed to stop the flow of gas through the leak.The next day, November 22, the flight control group at ESA conducted an orbital control maneuver to test the 2 larger thrusters in the backup system.As no problems were found during or after the maneuver, CryoSats backup thrusters are now formally commissioned, and the satellite is capable of continuing scientific activities to the end of the decade and possibly beyond.Hold on, the leak was spotted in 2016. The extension of CryoSats observations would bridge the gap and maintain the longest unbroken record of changing international ice weve ever had.Meanwhile, a novel cooperation with NASAs ice monitoring satellite ICESat-2, which combines the orbits of ICESat-2 and CryoSat to map snow on ice– a substantial cause of unpredictability in our estimates– could improve the accuracy of satellite measurements of ice volume yet further.The findings will be directly suitable also to future ice missions, consisting of CRISTAL.With constant enhancements to CryoSats information products, which cover not just sea ice and land ice but polar oceans, coastal oceans and inland waters, ESAs ice mission still has plenty to use.