 The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft is 3.7 meters in length with a diameter of 1.2 meters with an on-orbit mass of 831 kilograms. It has a design lifetime of 48 months. Power is provided though a 9.29 sq-m solar cell panel. Attitude is controlled using momentum wheels and magnetic coils using a strap-down star sensor and gyros as the reference. For more information, see http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov:2031/SOURCE_DOCS/dmsp_f10.html
 METOP, with an overall mass of about 4.5 tons, will nominally fly at 835 km altitude in a 5-day repeat sun-synchronous orbit with an Equator descending crossing time at 9.30 am. It has been designed to be compatible with launch on Ariane 5, being very likely that it shares launches with SPOT-5, the French Earth Observation satellite. Together, the operation of the three satellites in the series should span a period of at least 14 years, with each having an expected life time of 5 years. For more information, see http://www.eumetsat.de/en/area2/annual/polar.html
 The NOAA polar operational environmental satellites (POES) collect global data on cloud cover; surface conditions such as ice, snow, and vegetation; atmospheric temperatures; and moisture, aerosol, and ozone distributions; and collect and relay information from fixed and moving data platforms. For more information, see the POES Web site at: http://poes.gsfc.nasa.gov.
 Physically, the Terra spacecraft is roughly the size of a small school bus. It carries a payload of five state-of-the-art sensors that will study the interactions among the Earth's atmosphere, lands, oceans, life, and radiant energy (heat and light). Each sensor has unique design features that will enable EOS scientists to meet a wide range of science objectives.
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