Home › About Terra › Terra’s New Orbit › Terra Orbital Drift Information › Communications Toolkit

Communications Toolkit

Terra has orbited Earth for over 20 years, collecting important data about Earth’s systems. Beginning in 2020, inclination maneuvers to maintain Terra’s orbit were stopped to maintain Terra’s limited fuel supply. Since then, Terra has been drifting to an earlier equatorial crossing time but continues to collect valuable data.

Silent Animation from NASA’s Science Visualization Studio

Full length, silent animation of Terra’s orbital drift with individual animations of different aspects of Terra’s drift including illustrations of changes to swath width, shadow, altitude, and orbital position.

Narrated Animation

Short narrated animation that tells the story of Terra’s change in crossing time and the expected impacts to data and imagery.

Message from the Project Scientist

Dr. Kurtis Thome, Terra Project Scientist, provides an explanation of the milestones that Terra encounters between 2020 and the future.