QuikSCAT

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**QuikSCAT**
Orbital elements
QuikSCAT
Organization	JPL, NASA
Mission Type	Earth observation
Contractor	Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Satellite of	Earth
Launch	June 19, 1999 on a Titan II
Launch site	Vandenberg Air Force Base
Mission duration	2–3 years
Mass	971 kg (launch)
Webpage	winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/
Semimajor Axis	7180.8 km
Eccentricity	0.00014
Inclination	98.6 degrees
Orbital Period	100.93 minutes
Right ascension of the ascending node	178.47 degrees
Argument of perigee	47.4 degrees
Instruments
SeaWinds	microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction

The QuikSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) is an earth-observing satellite that provides wind speed and direction information over oceans to NOAA.It is a "quick recovery" mission to fill the gap created by the loss of data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) that was lost in June 1997. It is in a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit.

(NEEDS TO BE VERIFIED: In light of the 2003 failure of the ADEOS II satellite that was meant to succeed the NSCAT, QuickSCAT is currently the only instrument in orbit that allows us to measure surface winds over the oceans) [1]

[edit] See also

European Remote-Sensing Satellite

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (website)
Current missions	ACRIMSAT – AIRS – ASTER – Cassini-Huygens – GALEX – GRACE – Jason 1 – Keck Interferometer Mars Odyssey – MER – MGS – MISR – MLS – MRO – QuikSCAT – Rosetta – Spitzer – TES TOPEX/Poseidon – Ulysses – Voyager – WFPC
Past missions	Deep Impact – Deep Space 1 – Deep Space 2 – Explorer – Galileo – Genesis – IRAS – Magellan Mariner – Mars Climate Orbiter – Mars Observer – Mars Pathfinder – Mars Polar Lander – NSCAT Pioneer – Ranger – Seasat – SIR – SME – SRTM – Stardust – Surveyor – SVLBI – Viking – WIRE
Future missions	Dawn – Herschel Space Observatory – Kepler – LBT – Phoenix – MSL – AFL
Related organizations	Caltech – NASA – Deep Space Network – Goldstone Complex