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good morning everyone this is the

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post-launch news conference for our smap

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mission

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and here to discuss the activities from

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this morning

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first of all our kent kellogg the smap

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project manager from the jet propulsion

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laboratory

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scott higginbotham the nasa alana 10

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mission manager from the kennedy space

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center

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and jeff yoder the deputy associate

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administrator for the nasa headquarters

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science mission directorate

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and we'll begin first

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with a very happy

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kent kellogg

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yes thank you george

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we had a terrific ride into space this

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morning aboard the united launch

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alliance's

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delta ii vehicle

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they deposited us exactly where we

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wanted to be with very very good

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accuracy and precision

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we had a very nominal separation and i

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believe we have that video we can play

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of the separation sequence

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as soon as we separated

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the spacecraft onboard sequences very

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rapidly established communication

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via the

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nasa

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tracking data relay satellite system

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they

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started the solar array

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deployment uh exactly

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according to the nominal plan

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and you can see here the solar array

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beginning to deploy with the earth as a

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fantastic

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backdrop

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very apropos for a mission about the

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earth that's going to provide very

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important

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data on soil moisture

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and its freeze thaw state

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the solar array deployment uh took about

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as long as we expected the video quality

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here is actually quite exceptional

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uh and there you can see the first panel

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starting to deploy

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uh by all indications uh this is uh one

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of the cleanest uh most visible

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deployments we were able to see the

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camera by the way is on the upper stage

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of the vehicle

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uh the

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united launch alliance folks

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had arranged to let the upper stage wait

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for about 150 seconds

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uh while pointing uh at us

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so we'd have an opportunity to capture

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the array deployment and uh we were not

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sure we'd be able to see the entire

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deployment in the video but

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we were able to and

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it's fantastic

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the spacecraft attitude control system

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got us pointed at the sun so we were in

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a power positive

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situation

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within a few minutes uh we had our first

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contact with the near earth network

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station at svalbard

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within 20 minutes of separation that was

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right on the nominal plan

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we were able to get commands into the

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into the observatory and verify that

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they'd been executed

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we followed that with a second pass over

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the alaska

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satellite facility

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near fairbanks alaska again that was a

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very nominal pass

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and we were able to get good telemetry

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and we just followed that up with a

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third pass over the mcmurdo ground

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tracking facility so we've been able to

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now verify that we have good

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communication through the space

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satellite uh tracking and relay system

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and through all three of the major

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nasa uh near-earth ground stations that

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we plan to use

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with the mission

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the observatory health is excellent

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we have all of our

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subsystems are being powered on

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and checked out and look to be working

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as

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on the instruments yet we will not do

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that until about 11 days after launch

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but all the engineering subsystems the

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communication the the guidance and

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control

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uh the the uh the computers the power

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subsystem are all operating uh nominally

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and we've got uh good temperature

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performance so this is a fantastic start

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to the soil moisture active passive

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mission and i want to express thanks to

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the nasa launch services program people

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that work so hard to get us into space

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and the united launch alliance folks

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with their fantastic delta ii vehicle

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uh that gave us a wonderful ride into

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space this morning so we have a lot of

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happy people on the on the project side

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and we're looking forward to getting

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this mission

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off and getting some very valuable data

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returned for the scientists uh

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very quickly

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thank you kent and now to scott

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higginbotham the ilana 10 mission

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manager from the kennedy space center

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scott thank you george and good morning

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everyone uh let me start by saying we

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too want to thank united launch alliance

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and my colleagues in the launch services

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program for the amazing ride to space

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today

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all four of the alana 10 cubesats were

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ejected from the second stage per the

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mission timeline and are flying free

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the way

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we force these cubesats to operate they

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cannot turn on their transmitters for a

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period of time after they're deployed in

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the interest of protecting the second

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stage and the primary mission

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so the current timeline has the two

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firebird spacecraft and griffix turning

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on their transmitters about now about as

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we're speaking right now

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what they start doing is is beaconing to

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the ground sending a brief radio signal

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saying i'm here i'm here and they wait

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for someone to contact them

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we don't expect the to hear back from

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the spacecraft for a little while

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waiting for them to come over their

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ground stations here in the continental

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united states

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but we may actually hear of their of

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their beacons early coming from european

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ham radio operators who sometimes listen

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in for the signals and then communicate

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via the internet that they've heard from

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our spacecraft

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exocube will turn on a little later

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about 11 30 this morning and it will

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start beaconing to the ground as well

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in summary a great ride today into space

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we're looking forward to uh to getting

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the return from these satellites as they

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begin their missions and i do want to

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acknowledge all of the university

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students out there that had a part in

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building these spacecraft and and

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getting them into space today george

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thank you scott and now jeff yoder the

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deputy associate administrator

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for the nasa headquarters science

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directorate jeff thank you george

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what a morning

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you know i want to as my other

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colleagues i want to congratulate the

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entire smap team the nasa launch

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services program our contractors

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our partners in academia for a wonderful

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wonderful

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you know launch this morning you know i

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know a lot of people are eager for this

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mission to begin delivering the most

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accurate and highest resolution maps of

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soil moisture

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you know ever obtained

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you know this data will benefit not only

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scientists seeking better understanding

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of our planet's climate and environment

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but it's you know also a boon for

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weather forecasters agriculture and

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water resource managers emergency

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planners and policy makers

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and this map is another example

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of how nasa is making a difference in

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people's lives around the world and and

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that's just tremendous data and

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applications for societal benefits are

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directly accessible to decision makers

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uh stakeholders around the world

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his map joined several other missions

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several other nasa missions already in

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orbit

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in different stages of the water cycle

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and they give us unprecedented

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unprecedented measurements uh vital to

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the earth's system

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this past year has been extremely

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productive one for nasa earth science

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last february the global participat

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precipitation measurement core

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observatory was launched with our

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partners in japan

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and since then

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three new earth science uh spacecraft

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and sensors have been sent to space to

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study earth

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two of these are now mounted on the

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international space station

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today's launch is map of smap marks the

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fifth nasa earth science launch in 11

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months

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you know that is phenomenal if you just

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think about that

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these new missions will help answer some

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of the critical challenges facing our

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planet today and in the future climate

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change sea level rise fresh water

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resources and extreme weather

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events so smap highlights nasa's role in

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an as an innovative innovation leader in

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earth and climate science we strive to

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give the world a consistently expanding

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view

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and uh and understanding of our planet

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from space thanks again to the

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incredible team

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that have made this launch possible

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today of our smap launch george

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all right we'll take questions now first

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first of all in social media if you

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would like to ask a question you can use

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ask nasa and send in your questions to

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us we'll check first to see if we have

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any questions here in the room from any

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of our reporters here

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any any questions in the room okay

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all right um did we get any social media

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questions

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all right

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none from social media questions so in

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that event i think uh that's probably

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going to conclude our

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briefing uh

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we are very pleased at

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the success of of smack as well as our

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cubesats and we thank all of our

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participants and our briefings here this

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week

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so with that that will conclude our

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briefing

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and our coverage for this map mission

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green board

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ten

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nine eight

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seven

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six

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five

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four

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three

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two

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one

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engine start and liftoff of the delta ii

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rocket with smack making global