NASA Loses Communication With Hurricane-tracking Satellite

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NASA Loses Communication With Hurricane-tracking Satellite
Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA engineers are putting in all efforts to reestablish contact with one of the eight spacecraft that make up its Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) constellation, a group of satellites that monitor hurricanes.

 

CYGNSS is a space-based system that collects measurements of wind speeds frequently from the ocean's surface to alert Earth-based observatories about tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons. However, the system's team last received data from the satellite designated FM06 On November 26, as per NASA's statement.

 

Will FM06's Troubles Cripple CYGNSS?

According to the space agency's statement, the other seven satellites in the CYGNSS constellation are functional and are constantly collecting data since FM06 went down last month.

The system's scientific work will be done without FM06 for now. Still, if the team cannot reestablish a connection with the spacecraft, it could reduce the spatial coverage of CYGNSS, which offered a gap-free coverage of our planet until November.

CYGNSS was designed by the University of Michigan and Southwest Research Institute in Colorado to better understand the interaction between the sea and the air near a potential storm. The University of Michigan received a $152 million investment from NASA in 2012 to develop CYGNSS.

The constellation was launched in December 2016 and completed its prime science objectives in March 2019. Since then, the system has been operating as an extended mission.

What Makes CYGNSS Unique?

CYGNSS is unique because it is the space agency's first mission to conduct remote sensing of our planet's surface with the help of an existing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which is used to pinpoint a receiver and its user anywhere across the globe.

Although there are several GNSS systems, CYGNSS exclusively uses the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The CYGNSS constellations work as sensors that receive signals from GPS pulses that get reflected by the surface of our planet. Since these GPS signals operate at low microwave frequencies, they can penetrate thick clouds and rain during storms, enabling CYGNSS to measure the wind speeds of a storm's inner core.

Researchers believe this data could help them understand how tropical cyclones are formed and whether they will become more powerful. Ultimately, this knowledge could upgrade the tracking of these tropical cyclones.

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