Sixty Years of Earth Observations: from Explorer-1 (1958) to CYGNSS (2017)

  • Released Wednesday, January 31, 2018
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Earth observing spacecraft from Explorer-1 to CYGNSS
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.

January 31 2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Explorer-1 spacecraft and 60 years of Earth observations from space. This visualization shows the orbits of NASA-related near-Earth science missions from the launch of Explorer-1 in 1958 through 2017. These missions include both NASA-run missions as well as missions run by organizations that NASA has partnered with. Twenty-four of these missions are called out as "firsts" in various ways.


Here's a link to a version on youtube

The following missions are highlighted in green as "firsts":
  • Explorer-1 first satellite launched by US
  • Vanguard-1 first solar-powered satellite
  • Tiros-1 first weather satellite
  • Nimbus-1 first in series that provided 30 years of Earth observations
  • ATS-1: Applications Technology Satellite first full-disk Earth images from geosynchronous orbit
  • Apollo-8 first humans to orbit Moon; Earthrise photo
  • Landsat-1 first in a series providing continuous coverage of Earth's land
  • Skylab first combined active/passive microwave sensor (RADSCAT)
  • Seasat-1 first oceanographic satellite
  • ERBS: Earth Radiation Budget Satellite ozone data was key in Montreal Protocol Agreement
  • TOPEX/Poseidon: Ocean Topography Experiment first in a series providing continuous record of global sea levels
  • SeaWiFS: Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor first to measure global biosphere
  • TRMM: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission first 3-d views of storms from space
  • Terra first spacecraft of Earth Observing System (EOS)
  • SRTM: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission first near-global data set of land elevations
  • GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment first mission to map Earth's gravity field over time
  • Aqua first spacecraft in Afternoon train (A-train)
  • ICESat: Ice, Cloud,and land Elevation Satellite first continuous laser-altimetry of Antarctic/Greenland ice sheets
  • CALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation first global survey of cloud and aerosol profiles from 2 spacecraft
  • Cloudsat synergistic cloud observations from 2 spacecraft
  • Aquarius first dedicated sea surface salinity measurements
  • GPM: Global Precipitation Measurement first near-global precipitation observations
  • OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 first high-precision global measurements of CO2
  • SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive Active first NASA soil moisture satellite
  • DSCOVR: Deep Space Climate Observatory first continuous daytime observations from L1

    Other missions that are not highlighted:
  • CYGNSS-1-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1
  • Aura
  • GOES 1 - 16: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
  • ISS: International Space Station
  • Jason 2
  • Jason 3
  • LAGEOSLaser Geodynamic Satellite
  • Landsat 7
  • Landsat 8
  • QuikSCATQuick Scatterometer
  • SORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
  • Suomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership
  • Explorer-3
  • Explorer-4
  • Explorer-6
  • Explorer-7
  • Explorer-8
  • Explorer-9
  • Explorer-12
  • Nimbus-2
  • Nimbus-3
  • Nimbus-4
  • Nimbus-5
  • Nimbus-6
  • Nimbus-7
  • CINDI>: Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation
  • Vanguard-2
  • Vanguard-3
  • SMS-1: Synchronous Meteorological Satellite-1
  • SMS-2: Synchronous Meteorological Satellite-2
  • EO-1: Earth Observing mission 1)
  • EUVE: Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer
  • Jason-1
  • Landsat-2
  • Landsat-3
  • Landsat-4
  • Landsat-5
  • UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
  • EP-TOMS: Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
  • TIROS-2: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-2
  • TIROS-3: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-3
  • TIROS-4: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-4
  • TIROS-5: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-5
  • TIROS-6: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-6
  • TIROS-7: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-7
  • TIROS-8: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-8
  • TIROS-9: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-9
  • TIROS-10: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-10
  • TIROS-M: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-N
  • TIROS-N: Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite-M
  • ATS-2: Applications Technology Satellite-2
  • ATS-3: Applications Technology Satellite-3
  • ATS-4: Applications Technology Satellite-4
  • ATS-6: Applications Technology Satellite-6
  • DE-1: Dynamics Explorer-1
  • DE-2: Dynamics Explorer-2
  • STS-2: Space Shuttle Office of Space and Terrestrial Application
  • SAGE: Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment

    Also included:
  • Stars
  • Moon
  • Sun
  • Earth
  • L1: Sun-Earth Lagrange Point-1

    NOTES:
    The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level.

    There are 3 clocks (date/time) driving different aspects of this visualization:
  • the progession of the orbits as they move around the Earth
  • the timeline at the top which also drives the exposure of orbits
  • Apollo-8 and the moon


    Earth observing spacecraft from Explorer-1 to CYGNSS (without timeline at the top or text explaining the "firsts")
    This video is also available on our YouTube channel.

    Explorer-1 only - this version is the full camera path of the previous versions, but only showing Explorer-1 (and Apollo-8). This is intended to provide video editors extra footage showing Explorer-1.

    Earth observing spacecraft with all spacecraft shown from Explorer-1 to CYGNSS. This is intended to provide video editors extra footage showing all Earth observing spacecraft.

    Credits

    Please give credit for this item to:
    NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

    Datasets used

    Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.

    This page was originally published on Wednesday, January 31, 2018.
    This page was last updated on Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 10:35 PM EST.