Videos: Soil Mapping Spacecraft Ready for Flight and News Conference

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) spacecraft will be boosted into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Learn how SMAP and the Delta II were readied for liftoff.
Background: Soil Mapping Spacecraft Ready for FlightSoil Mapping Spacecraft Ready for Flight

News Conference: Small Satellite Mission Previewed

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive mission (SMAP) was previewed during a Jan. 27 pre-launch briefing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. SMAP is the first U.S. Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture. The mission’s high resolution space-based measurements of soil moisture will give scientists a new capability to better predict natural hazards of extreme weather and improve our understanding of Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycles. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 2 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is targeted for Jan. 29 at 6:20 a.m. PST (9:20 a.m. EST).

SMAP Radiometer versus Radio Frequency Interference