Picasso-Cena

Pathfinder Instruments for Cloud and Aerosol Spaceborne Observations -- Climatologie Etendue des Nuages et des Aerosols
Also called Calipso (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) or ESSP 3

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General

Designation	29108 / 06016B
Launch date	28 Apr 2006
Country of origin	United States
Operator	NASA (Langley)
Mission	Remote sensing
Perigee/Apogee	705 km, sun-synchronous
Inclination	98.2°
Period
Launch vehicle	Delta 2 #314

Part of the ESSP (Earth System Science Pathfinder) program. Includes the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Paris, France. The estimated mission cost, including launch vehicle, is $173.5 million. NASA will provide $117.4 million, with France providing $56.1 million.

Part of the A-train.

In March 2009 the backup laser was activated as the primary payload has a container pressure drop.

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External resources

sat-index articles

http://smsc.cnes.fr/CALIPSO/
http://www.nasa.gov/calipso
http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/satellites/cloudsat.asp

Technical data

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Specifications

Prime contractor	Alcatel Space
Platform	Proteus
Mass at launch
Dry mass	600 kg
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power	EOL: 530 W
Design lifetime	3 years

Satellite Data Storage: 66 Gbits (Platform: 2 Gbits; Instrument Suite: 64 Gbits)

Will employ innovative light-detection and ranging (LIDAR) instrumentation to profile the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols, while another instrument will simultaneously image the infrared (heat) emission of the atmosphere. During the daylight half of its orbit, PICASSO-CENA will measure the reflected sunlight in an oxygen-absorption band and take images of the atmosphere with a wide-field camera.

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Payload

- A 2-wavelength (532 nm and 1064 nm) polarization sensitive lidar with a 1-m telescope
- An imaging infrared radiometer (IIR), at 8.7µm, 10.5 µm, and 12.0µm
- A high resolution wide field camera (WFC), at 645 nm

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