EO-1 Update
NASA has extended the EO-1 mission through FY07, with the possibility of further extensions. In this mission phase, EO-1 has been transformed into an on-orbit test bed for advanced technology and hyperspectral research; however, individual users can still acquire new scenes or archived scenes through the USGS.
As of October 1, 2005, the EO-1 mission transitioned to lower cost, highly autonomous operations through primarily unmanned ground and satellite operations. Under this new operations arrangement, EO-1 data are delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and processed to a Level 0 product. GSFC then forwards the L0 product to the EO-1 long-term archive at the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) where the data can be accessed using http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov or http://glovis.usgs.gov and ordered at the cost of fulfilling a user request. The USGS/EROS will continue to accept and submit to NASA new EO-1 data acquisition requests (DARs) on behalf of the EO-1 user community for a nominal fee for setup and tracking of each DAR. Since EO-1 will continue to be used for technology tests, non-NASA user requests will be handled on a non-interference basis, which has not been a problem so far. For further information on how to submit a DAR refer to http://eo1.usgs.gov.
NASA is also conducting small orbit lowering maneuvers that have taken EO-1 out of formation flying with Landsat 7. This gradual positioning of the satellite is in preparation for eventual re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The initial maneuver occurred on September 25, 2005, which lowered the orbit by about 5-6 km. Every 4-5 weeks thereafter, the EO-1 orbit is lowered another kilometer to maintain a fixed mean local overpass time at slightly greater than 10:00 a.m. With continued support, EO-1 could collect remote sensing data until 2011 when all its fuel will be expended and EO-1 will have arrived at its determined re-entry altitude. For further questions, please contact custserv@usgs.gov.
