TRW Unveils Satellite Project to Monitor Atmosphere
It’s two stories high and looks like a gigantic conglomeration of aluminum foil and plastic. But it is one of the keys to help Southern California’s economy recover from its dependency on the aerospace industry.
TRW this week unveiled a model of an Earth Observing System satellite, two of which are being built at the company’s facilities in Redondo Beach.
The first satellite is scheduled to be launched in 1998, the second in 2000. The satellites are part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth, started in the mid-1980s to monitor the Earth’s weather, atmosphere and oceans.
The two satellites, which will bring 250 jobs to the facility, will carry instruments that will gather information on the status of the Earth’s atmosphere, bodies of water, ice sheets and land masses.
The data will be used to predict summer rainfall, track global warming trends, tell farmers if their crops are healthy, evaluate fire damage and monitor the oceans and their ecosystem.
“Imagine, in the not-too-distant future that we can detect El Nino events from the precise measurement of sea height and surface temperature--all the measurements taken from space,” said Stephanie Sandor, image analyst with TRW’s Space and Technology Division. “This in turn will enable more accurate long-range predictions of precipitation on many areas, and specifically the watershed for Southern California. Anticipating increased rain in the L.A. Basin, we can prepare for a close analysis of the runoff.”
TRW officials noted that the company is building fewer satellites for the defense industry and more commercial satellites, making it less dependent on the aerospace industry. This is the kind of transformation that people such as Democrat Rep. Jane Harman, whose district encompasses Redondo Beach, like to see.
“We will not and should not replace every defense job of the ‘80s, but we should take the intelligence base [in Southern California] that is unique in the world and help focus it on a range of activities like this one,” said Harman, who was at the satellite model presentations.
