Its Mission Is Over, The CloudSat Satellite Will Be Destroyed In The Atmosphere

CloudSat satellite image (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA CloudSat, NASA's Earth observation satellite, has been deactivated and unable to work anymore. Although its satellite has been shut down since December last year, the new CloudSat was lowered from orbit in March. This satellite will slowly descend and re-enter the atmosphere. When that happens, the satellite will burn in the atmosphere and its function will completely shut down. Before becoming debris, NASA has secured its entire data.CloudSat was originally proposed as a 22-month mission, but ended up 17 years and eight months because of its functioning component. During its time of service, the satellite observed vertical structure and water content in the cloud. This 2006-launched satellite has a radar of 94GHz wavelength. This radar is a thousand times more sensitive, thus producing a new picture of the cloud, namely a 3D slice of the atmosphere filled with ice and rain. CloudSat Stephens Main Researcher said that CloudSat is a very useful tool because it can help scientists observe clouds and rainfall at the same time. Both of these things are also important for humans to observe.

"Without clouds, humans would not exist, because clouds provide the fresh water life needs," Stephens said. We sometimes call them smart little demons because of their confusing nature." For years, CloudSat data has helped scientists in making important discoveries. So far, scientists have gained information such as how much ice and water in the clouds and how clouds accelerate ice disbursement. CloudSat data will continue to be utilized in the next few years. The reason is, the Earth will continue to undergo changes and these changes need to be explored. Measurements made can provide new insight into weather pattern changes.