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Instrument Updates (Archive)

This page serves as a record of past important updates on instrument status, previously highlighted as banners on the Terra homepage.

TimelineAnnouncement
November 2024On November 28th, 2024 at 14:20 UTC, one of Terra’s power-transmitting shunt units failed. A response team reviewed Terra’s status, and discussed potential impacts and options.  Consequently, the team changed the battery charge rate and reduced spacecraft power demands by placing the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument into Safe Mode.  As a result, ASTER data are not currently being collected. All other instruments continue uninterrupted. The engineering team will continue to closely monitor Terra’s power output and provide future updates on ASTER’s status.
Terra successfully completed a multi-day special maneuver to allow for calibration of the MODIS instrument’s diffuser. Data collection from all Terra instruments were briefly interrupted during this process (see specific dates and times below).

Day 1 (11/12/24) – 16:41z – 22:22z
Day 2 (11/13/24) – 12:24z – 21:25z
Day 3 (11/14/24) – 13:01z – 22:04z
Day 4 (11/15/24) – 12:07z – 20:38z
May 2024Direct Broadcast Update: Terra has not been transmitting Direct Broadcast since May 11, 2024, due to a solar array power generation issue limiting our ability to continue all science and provide Direct Broadcast continuously. Unfortunately, there are no plans to resume Terra Direct Broadcast.
July 2023A programmatic change in the Terra mission prompted the flight operation staffing to go from 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with limited operational response when staff are not on site. For more information, see below.
The Terra and Aqua Flight Operation Team (FOT) transitioned fully to Light-Out-Operations (LOOps) on July 7th 2023 at 6am EDT, following successful testing and Ops Readiness Review. In the LOOps configuration there will not be an on-console engineer working the 12-hour night shift (6pm-6am), but instead system support engineers will be on call during lights out period to respond to red limit alarms as needed.

FOT will no longer attempt to fill science data gaps via Solid State Recorder replays so additional data losses and larger data gaps are expected, though estimated data capture is expected to remain above mission data capture guideline of 95%. For more information and a list of known Terra and Aqua data gaps due to LOOps, visit this informational page located on the MODIS Adaptive Processing System (MODAPS) website. You can also view all recorded Terra LOOps at the webpage linked here.

For more updates and information about Terra instrument status, visit the following links: