Current Missions
* Current missions are listed from earliest launch to most recent.

Topex/Poseidon Launch Date: August 10, 1992    Under a joint plan between NASA and France's National Center for Space Studies, this satellite mission measures sea level every 10 days. This mission allows scientists to chart the height of the seas across ocean basins with an accuracy of less than 10 centimeters (4 inches). This data provided a unique view of El Niño and La Niña.

Quick Scatterometer Launch Date: June 19, 1999    The SeaWinds instrument aboard the QuikScat satellite enables researchers to look through cloud cover and measure winds at the ocean's surface. SeaWinds can spot tropical depressions that can lead to hurricanes before they are visible in conventional satellite imagery.

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Launch Date: December 18, 1999    This is an imaging instrument flying on NASA's Terra satellite. It is designed to obtain high-resolution global, regional and local images of Earth in 14 color bands.

Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer Launch Date: December 18, 1999    Launched aboard NASA's Terra satellite, this instrument is a sophisticated imaging system that collects images from nine widely spaced angles as its satellite glides above Earth.

Active Cavity Irradiance Monitor Satellite Launch Date: December 20, 1999    This satellite is designed to monitor the total amount of the Sun's energy reaching Earth. This data will help climatologists improve their predictions of climate change and global warming over the next century.

Jason-1 Launch: December 7, 2001    Like its predecessor, Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1 is a joint U.S./French oceanography mission. The Jason-1 satellite monitors global ocean circulation, study ties between the oceans and atmosphere, improve global climate predictions and monitor events like El Niño.

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Launch: March 17, 2002    This joint U.S.-German mission consists of two spacecraft flying in tandem to measure Earth's gravitational field very precisely. This will enable a better understanding of ocean surface currents and ocean heat transport.

Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Launch: May 4, 2002    This instrument flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite to make highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperatures. Instrument home page Mission description

Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer Launch: July 15, 2004    This instrument, which flies aboard NASA's Aura spacecraft, is an infrared sensor designed to study Earth's troposphere -- the lowest region of our atmosphere -- and look at ozone.

Microwave Limb Sounder Launch: July 15, 2004    This instrument, which will fly aboard NASA's Aura spacecraft, is designed to improve our understanding of ozone, especially how it is depleted by processes of chlorine chemistry.