Earth Radiation Budget Satellite

The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) was a NASA scientific research satellite. The satellite was one of three satellites in NASA's research program, named Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE), to investigate the Earth's radiation budget. The satellite also carried an instrument that studied stratospheric aerosol and gases.

Earth Radiation Budget Satellite
The ERBS spacecraft
Mission typeEarth observation
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1984-108B
SATCAT no.15354
Websitehttps://science.nasa.gov/missions/erbs
Mission durationFinal: 38 years, 3 months, 3 days
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerBall Aerospace
Launch mass2,449 kg (5,399 lb)
Dry mass2,307 kg (5,086 lb)
Dimensions4.6 × 3.5 × 1.5 m (15.1 × 11.5 × 4.9 ft)
Power470 watts
Start of mission
Launch date5 October 1984, 22:18 (1984-10-05UTC22:18) UTC
RocketSpace Shuttle Challenger (STS-41-G)
Launch siteKennedy LC-39A
End of mission
DisposalUncontrolled Re-Entry
Deactivated14 October 2005 (2005-10-15)
Decay dateJanuary 8, 2023
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Eccentricity0.00194
Perigee altitude572 km (355 mi)
Apogee altitude599 km (372 mi)
Inclination56.9 deg
Period96.4 min
Epoch5 October 1984
 

ERBS was launched on October 5, 1984, by the Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS-41-G mission and deactivated on October 14, 2005. It re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on January 8, 2023, over the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands. NASA's CERES instruments have continued the ERB data record after 1997.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.