TRW Inc.
last night shipped NASA’s Aqua Earth Observing System spacecraft
to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. for launch preparation.
Built and
rigorously tested at TRW’s Space Park manufacturing facility, the 6,837-pound
spacecraft is equipped with sophisticated instruments to monitor rainfall,
snow, sea ice, soil moisture and clouds.
Aqua was nestled into a special shipping container, placed in the cargo
hold of a tractor-trailer rig and convoyed with a police escort up the
California coastline.
At Vandenberg, the spacecraft will undergo final tests
as it is integrated with a Delta II rocket for launch this spring.
“We’re excited to see Aqua moving forward on its journey, ” said
Tim Hannemann, TRW Space & Electronics president and chief executive.
“Aqua’s
instruments will gather important data about global energy and water cycles,
so scientists can improve our knowledge of climate.
With Aqua’s mission
success as their primary focus, TRW and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have
combined their extensive experience developing science spacecraft to produce a
highly capable observatory.”
Aqua is a member of TRW’s T-300 spacecraft family, designed to provide
low-jitter, precision pointing and longevity for scientific and remote sensing
payloads.
Its eight science instruments will send streams of data to Earth
for analysis by teams of scientists worldwide.
TRW is also building a sibling
to Aqua, called Aura, which will study the Earth’s ozone, air quality and
climate with an entirely different instrument suite.
TRW provides advanced-technology products and services for the aerospace,
systems and automotive markets.
Company news releases can be found at
www.trw.com .
