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Cloud-Aerosol Transport System on ISS (CATS on ISS)
Status:
Completed
Mission Category:
Other
Launch Date: January 10, 2015
Launch Location: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Designed Life: January 10, 2018
Actual Completion Date: November 14, 2017
The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) investigation used a remote sensing, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), instrument designed to provide measurements of the particulate contents within the atmosphere including clouds and aerosols. The CATS instrument used a laser to provide data on the location, composition, and distribution of atmospheric constituents which impact the climate on a global scale. Obtaining a better understanding of cloud and aerosol coverage and properties is critical for understanding and modeling of the Earth system and associated climate feedback processes.
CATS was an attached payload on the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility, or JEM-EF onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The CATS project was not a "business as usual" project - it was specifically intended to demonstrate a low-cost, streamlined approach to developing ISS science payloads.
The CATS instrument was funded by the International Space Station NASA Research Office with supplemental funding for research from NASA’s Earth Science Division.
Key Cloud-Aerosol Transport System on ISS Facts
| Mission/Portal Page: | http://cats.gsfc.nasa.gov |
|---|---|
| Launch Vehicle: | SpaceX Falcon 9 |
| Altitude:Distance from sea level. | 420km |
| Inclination: | 51.65° |
| Origination: | NASA |
| Instruments: |
LIDAR |
| Principal Investigator(s): |
Matthew J McGill, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States |
Related Publications:
- CATS: Measuring Clouds and Aerosols from the ISS (iBooks - 5.48 MB)
Science Goals:
- Provide near-real-time measurements of clouds and aerosols that can be assimilated into aerosol transport models
- Provide on-orbit tech demo for high rep-rate laser, photon-counting detection, and 355 nm laser operation in-space
- Provide risk reduction for future Earth Science missions
- Provide long-term (6 months to 3 years) operational science from ISS