PIA14061: Aquarius Lifted onto SAC-D Service Platform
 Mission:  Aquarius
 Spacecraft:  Aquarius/SAC-D
 Product Size:  1024 x 683 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  NASA
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14061.tif (2.101 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14061.jpg (108.7 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Aquarius instrument is lifted upright onto the SAC-D service platform at the INVAP high bay facility in Bariloche, Argentina.

Aquarius/SAC-D is an international mission involving NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comisín Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. Aquarius, the primary instrument on the mission, was built jointly by JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. It will provide monthly global maps of how the concentration of dissolved salt (known as salinity) varies on the ocean surface. Salinity is a key tracer for understanding the ocean's role in Earth's water cycle and understanding ocean circulation.

By measuring ocean salinity from space, Aquarius will provide new insights into how the massive natural interplay of freshwater moving among the ocean, atmosphere and sea ice influences Earth's ocean circulation, weather and climate.

For more information on Aquarius, visit http://www.aquarius.nasa.gov.

Image Credit:
NASA

Image Addition Date:
2011-04-19