Sun  ID: 3391

THEMIS Orbits: Dayside Science Configuration

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on December 14, 2006
In the early part of the mission, the five THEMIS satellites will follow the same orbit single-file. The apogee of the orbit will take the spacecraft just beyond the bow shock of the Earth's magnetosphere. This will enable the satellites to collect data in this region over a short range of time so that the time history can be studied. The dates in this visualization are based on an ephemeris assuming a launch on January 20, 2007. The satellite colors are: red=P1, green=P2, cyan=P3, blue=P4, magenta=P5.
Download Options
This movie looks down onto the north pole of the Earth and the five THEMIS spacecraft travelling along a single elliptical orbit. The Sun is to the left.
Download Options
Same movie as above but no date slate.
Download Options
This is an opening shot of the animation. Satellites P1 (red) and P4 (blue) are too close together to be distinguished as separate objects on this scale.
Download Options
Same image as above with no date slate.
Download Options
The satellites swing through their perigee, moving more swiftly close to the Earth. You can now distinguish satellites P1 (red) and P4 (blue).
Download Options
Same movie as above with no date slate.

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Vassilis Angelopoulos (University of California at Berkeley): Scientist
David G. Sibeck (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3391

Mission:
THEMIS

Data Used:
SSCweb also referred to as: SSCweb ephemerides
Ephemeris - NASA/GSFC Space Physics Data Facility - 2007/06/25T00:00:00 - 2007/06/28T00:00:00
Satellite ephemerides
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
THEMIS Pre-launch

Keywords:
SVS >> Geomagnetic Field
SVS >> Magnetosphere
SVS >> Solar Wind
GCMD >> Location >> Bow Shock
SVS >> THEMIS
NASA Science >> Sun

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0