Spectacular video data transmitted from SANSA’s ground station

On Saturday 31 January 2015, a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launched the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite for NASA. SMAP is an Earth satellite mission designed to measure and map Earth’s soil moisture and freeze/thaw state to better understand terrestrial water, carbon and energy cycles.

Hartebeesthoek (HBK) was contracted to provide S-Band launch support to acquire telemetry data from the Delta II launch vehicle and cover the Stage II first cut-off, second stage II cut-off as well as spacecraft separation. The ground station received high definition video data of the event which was transmitted via the HBK tracking station, to launch control at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

There were a number of accolades received, following the successful SMAP launch support. Congratulations to the following personnel on a job well done: Frikkie Meyer, Pieter van der Merwe, Carlos de Oliveira, Mutshutshu Nephiphidi, Norton Mahada, Themba Mbule and Yunus Bhayat.

Watch the video below:

Vaneshree Maharaj
vmaharaj@sansa.org.za