Terra ( satellite ) - wikipedia Terra ( satellite ) For other uses, see Terra ( disambiguation ). Terra Terra ( EOS AM - 1 ) Mission type Climate research Operator NASA COSPAR ID 1999 - 068A SATCAT no. 25994 Website terra.nasa.gov Mission duration Elapsed : 18 years, 1 day Spacecraft properties Manufacturer NASA Launch mass 4,864 kilograms ( 10,723 lb ) Start of mission Launch date December 18, 1999, 18 : 57 : 39 ( 1999 - 12 - 18UTC18 : 57 : 39Z ) UTC Rocket Atlas II AS AC - 141 Launch site Vandenberg SLC - 3E Contractor ILS Orbital parameters Reference system Geocentric Regime Low Earth Semi-major axis 7,080.0 kilometers ( 4,399.3 mi ) Eccentricity 0.0001392 Perigee 708.7 kilometers ( 440.4 mi ) Apogee 710.6 kilometers ( 441.5 mi ) Inclination 98.2098 ° Period 98.8 minutes RAAN 251.3130 degrees Argument of perigee 83.7699 degrees Mean anomaly 276.3654 degrees Mean motion 14.57110250 Epoch 25 June 2016, 02 : 58 : 27 UTC Revolution no. 87867 Terra ( EOS AM - 1 ) is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in a Sun - synchronous orbit around the Earth. It is the flagship of the Earth Observing System ( EOS ). The name `` Terra '' comes from the Latin word for Earth. A naming contest was held by NASA among U.S. high school students. The winning essay was submitted by Sasha Jones of Brentwood, Missouri. The identifier `` AM - 1 '' refers to its orbit, passing over the equator in the morning. Contents 1 Launch 2 Mission 3 Malicious cyber activities 4 Gallery of images by Terra 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Launch The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on December 18, 1999, aboard an Atlas IIAS vehicle and began collecting data on February 24, 2000. It was placed into a near - polar, sun - synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705km, with a 10 : 30am descending node. Mission Terra carries a payload of five remote sensors designed to monitor the state of Earth 's environment and ongoing changes in its climate system : ASTER ( Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer ) CERES ( Clouds and the Earth 's Radiant Energy System ) MISR ( Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer ) MODIS ( Moderate - resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ) MOPITT ( Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere ) Data from the satellite helps scientists better understand the spread of pollution around the globe. Studies have used instruments on Terra to examine trends in global carbon monoxide and aerosol pollution. The data collected by Terra will ultimately become a new, 15 - year global data set. Malicious cyber activities In June and October 2008 the spacecraft was targeted by hackers who gained unauthorized access to its command and control systems but did not issue any commands. Gallery of Images by Terra The first image taken by Terra. The Solar eclipse of August 1, 2008, over Russia, Norway, and the Arctic Ocean as seen from NASA 's Terra satellite. The effects of the European winter storms of 2009 -- 2010 on Great Britain, seen from Terra. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill oil slick as seen from space by NASA 's Terra satellite on May 1, 2010. The Deepwater Horizon oil slick just off the Louisiana coast on April 30, 2010, visible from space. Hurricane Karl, the most destructive hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season, approaches Mexico on September 16. See also Spaceflight portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Terra ( satellite ). Aqua ( satellite ) Aura ( satellite ) Man - made structures visible from space References Jump up ^ `` NASA : TERRA ( EOS AM - 1 ) ''. nasa.gov. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 07. Jump up ^ Maurer, John ( November 2001 ). `` Overview of NASA 's Terra satellite ''. hawaii.edu ( University of Hawai'i ). Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 07. Jump up ^ Stevens, Nicki F. ; Garbeil, Harold ; Mouginis - Mark, Peter J. ( 2004 - 01 - 22 ). `` NASA EOS Terra ASTER : Volcanic topographic mapping and capability '' ( PDF ). Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 07. Jump up ^ `` MODIS Terra Satellite Images ''. ucar.edu ( National Center for Atmospheric Research : Earth Observatory Laboratory ). Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 07. Jump up ^ `` MEASUREMENTS OF POLLUTION IN THE TROPOSPHERE ( MOPITT ) ''. acd.ucar.edu ( NESL 's Atmospheric Chemistry Division ). Archived from the original on 2011 - 01 - 28. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 07. Jump up ^ `` NASA 's Terra Satellite Tracks Global Pollution ''. gsfc.nasa.gov ( Goddard Space Flight Center ). 2004 - 05 - 18. Archived from the original on 2010 - 11 - 24. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 07. Jump up ^ `` 2011 REPORT TO CONGRESS of the U.S. - CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION, page 216 '' ( PDF ). uscc.gov. Retrieved 2012 - 10 - 09. External links NASA Terra site Orbital meteorological and remote sensing systems Concepts Defense Weather Satellite System Earth observation satellite Geographic information system ( GIS ) Weather satellite NISAR ICESat - 2 Current projects Earth Observing System ( EOS ) GPM TRMM Landsat 7 QuikSCAT Terra ACRIMSAT NMP / EO - 1 Jason - 1 OSTM / Jason - 2 Jason - 3 Meteor 3M - 1 / Sage III GRACE Aqua SORCE Aura CloudSat CALIPSO NPOESS Megha - Tropiques SARAL IRS ESSP Aquarius Landsat 8 SMAP A-train satellites Aqua Aura CALIPSO CloudSat GCOM - W1 ( Shizuku ) OCO - 2 Copernicus programme Sentinel - 1 Sentinel - 2 Sentinel - 3 Sentinel - 4 Sentinel - 5 Precursor Sentinel - 5 Geostationary meteorological satellites Elektro - L Fengyun - 2 GOES INSAT Meteosat Himawari - 8 Other satellites CBERS COSMO - SkyMed DMSP DMC EROS Fengyun - 3 GOSAT ( Ibuki ) Landsat MetOp Meteor POES RADARSAT - 2 RapidEye Resurs - P SMOS SPOT TerraSAR - X THEOS Former projects Completed ADEOS ( Midori ) ADEOS II ( Midori 2 ) COSMIC ( FORMOSAT - 3 ) Envisat ERS FORMOSAT - 1 FORMOSAT - 2 Geosat GMS ( Himawari ) ICESat IKONOS JERS - 1 ( Fuyo - 1 ) Nimbus PARASOL QuickBird RADARSAT - 1 Seasat SeaWiFS TIROS TOPEX / Poseidon UARS Vanguard Failed OCO Glory Cancelled NMP / EO - 3 ← 1998 Orbital launches in 1999 2000 → Mars Polar Lander ROCSAT - 1 Stardust Globalstar 23 Globalstar 36 Globalstar 38 Globalstar 40 Telstar 6 JCSAT - 6 Soyuz TM - 29 ARGOS Ørsted SUNSAT Arabsat 3A Skynet 4E Globus No. 15 Wide Field Infrared Explorer Globalstar 23 Globalstar 37 Globalstar 41 Globalstar 46 AsiaSat 3S DemoSat Progress M - 41 Sputnik 99 INSAT - 2E USA - 142 Eutelsat W3 Globalstar 19 Globalstar 42 Globalstar 44 Globalstar 45 Landsat 7 UoSAT - 12 Ikonos - 1 ABRIXAS Megsat - 0 USA - 143 Orion 3 Feng Yun 1C Shijian 5 TERRIERS MUBLCOM Nimiq 1 USA - 144 Oceansat - 1 Kitsat - 3 DLR - Tubsat STS - 96 ( Starshine 1 ) Globalstar 25 Globalstar 47 Globalstar 49 Globalstar 52 Iridium 14A Iridium 21A Astra 1H QuikSCAT FUSE Gran ' No. 45 Molniya 3 - 50 Globalstar 30 Globalstar 32 Globalstar 35 Globalstar 51 Progress M - 42 Okean - O No. 1 STS - 93 ( Chandra ) Globalstar 26 Globalstar 28 Globalstar 43 Globalstar 48 Telkom 1 Globalstar 24 Globalstar 27 Globalstar 53 Globalstar 54 Kosmos 2365 Kosmos 2366 Koreasat 3 Yamal - 101 Yamal - 102 Foton 12 Globalstar 33 Globalstar 50 Globalstar 55 Globalstar 58 EchoStar V Ikonos 2 Telstar 7 LMI - 1 Resurs F - 1M USA - 145 DirecTV - 1R CBERS - 1 SACI - 1 Globalstar 31 Globalstar 56 Globalstar 57 Globalstar 59 Orion 2 Ekspress A1 GE - 4 MTSAT - 1 Shenzhou 1 Globalstar 29 Globalstar 34 Globalstar 39 Globalstar 61 USA - 146 Hélios 1B Clémentine Orbcomm FM30 Orbcomm FM31 Orbcomm FM32 Orbcomm FM33 Orbcomm FM34 Orbcomm FM35 Orbcomm FM36 XMM - Newton SACI - 2 USA - 147 Terra STS - 103 Arirang - 1 ACRIMSAT Millennial Galaxy 11 Kosmos 2367 Kosmos 2368 Payloads are separated by bullets ( ), launches by pipes ( ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Terra_(satellite)&oldid=816182940 '' Categories : Earth observation satellites of the United States NASA satellites Spacecraft launched in 1999 Spacecraft launched by Atlas rockets Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Қазақша Lëtzebuergesch 日本 語 Português Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 19 December 2017, at 20 : 18. About Wikipedia

Question: what is the purpose of the terra satellite
Answer: flagship of the Earth Observing System