Topex/Poseidon is a little satellite that could. Launched on August 10, 1992, the joint U.S.- French spacecraft was designed to fly for three to five years. This week it celebrates its 10th anniversary and is still going strong.
When it turns 10, Topex/Poseidon will have made 46,763 trips around Earth measuring the height of the oceans to within 4 centimeters (less than 2 inches). Since launch, it will have faithfully provided more than 98 percent of the science data it was designed to collect despite technical and mechanical challenges, and its advancing years.
A successful mission is a combination of hardware, software and people. One key member of the Topex/Poseidon team is Parag Vaze, deputy manager for Earth sciences mission operations at JPL.
Vaze has been part of the Topex/Poseidon mission for longer than the satellite has been flying. He first came to JPL in 1992 while working for Fairchild, the company that built the satellite. "Someone was needed here for six months to deliver, commission and train personnel to use a flight system test bed just before the launch," he says. "That six month stint kept getting extended. I was able to offer some complementary skills to the operations team and eventually officially joined JPL in 1996," he says.
Vaze's job is to keep NASA's Earth-observing satellites operated by JPL flying and performing well. He heads the Earth science mission operations team under whose care are the venerable Topex/Poseidon and its follow-on, Jason 1, launched this past December. The team also provides support for Acrimsat, which measures the total amount of sunlight falling on Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land.
When it turns 10, Topex/Poseidon will have made 46,763 trips around Earth measuring the height of the oceans to within 4 centimeters (less than 2 inches). Since launch, it will have faithfully provided more than 98 percent of the science data it was designed to collect despite technical and mechanical challenges, and its advancing years.
A successful mission is a combination of hardware, software and people. One key member of the Topex/Poseidon team is Parag Vaze, deputy manager for Earth sciences mission operations at JPL.
Vaze has been part of the Topex/Poseidon mission for longer than the satellite has been flying. He first came to JPL in 1992 while working for Fairchild, the company that built the satellite. "Someone was needed here for six months to deliver, commission and train personnel to use a flight system test bed just before the launch," he says. "That six month stint kept getting extended. I was able to offer some complementary skills to the operations team and eventually officially joined JPL in 1996," he says.
Vaze's job is to keep NASA's Earth-observing satellites operated by JPL flying and performing well. He heads the Earth science mission operations team under whose care are the venerable Topex/Poseidon and its follow-on, Jason 1, launched this past December. The team also provides support for Acrimsat, which measures the total amount of sunlight falling on Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land.
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