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92-520: The OCO-2 satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation , based around the LEOStar-2 bus. The spacecraft is being used to study carbon dioxide concentrations and distributions in the atmosphere. OCO-2 was ordered after the original OCO spacecraft failed to achieve orbit. During the first satellite's launch atop a Taurus-XL in February 2009, the payload fairing failed to separate from around

184-731: A 98.2° inclination . The mission is expected to cost US$ 467.7 million , including design, development, launch and operations. Rather than directly measuring concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, OCO-2 records how much of the sunlight reflected off the Earth is absorbed by CO 2 molecules in an air column. OCO-2 makes measurements in three different spectral bands over four to eight different footprints of approximately 1.29 km × 2.25 km (0.80 mi × 1.40 mi) each. About 24 soundings are collected per second while in sunlight and over 10% of these are sufficiently cloud free for further analysis. One spectral band

276-461: A boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime . The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe . However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework . In the 19th and 20th centuries mathematicians began to examine geometries that are non-Euclidean , in which space

368-402: A concept of neighbourhood is defined, frequently by means of a distance ( metric spaces ). The elements of a space are often called points , but they can have other names such as vectors in vector spaces and functions in function spaces . Space is one of the few fundamental quantities in physics , meaning that it cannot be defined via other quantities because nothing more fundamental

460-564: A contract with Thales Alenia Space , Orbital is conducting integration and test services for Iridium NEXT , the next-generation satellite constellation of Iridium Communications Inc. Orbital will integrate the communications payloads and platforms for 81 low-Earth orbit Iridium NEXT satellites and test the systems at its satellite manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Arizona. Orbital Imaging spacecraft are designed to provide commercial Earth imaging services. The OrbView series of spacecraft paved

552-448: A definitive agreement with Alliant Techsystems to combine Orbital and ATK's Aerospace and Defense (A&D) Groups to create a US$ 4.5 billion (combined calendar year 2013 annual revenue), 13000-person company. The new company was called Orbital ATK, Inc . On 18 September 2017, Northrop Grumman announced plans to purchase Orbital ATK for US$ 7.8 billion in cash plus assumption of US$ 1.4 billion in debt. Orbital ATK shareholders approved

644-440: A flat surface. After a while, as the bucket continues to spin, the surface of the water becomes concave. If the bucket's spinning is stopped then the surface of the water remains concave as it continues to spin. The concave surface is therefore apparently not the result of relative motion between the bucket and the water. Instead, Newton argued, it must be a result of non-inertial motion relative to space itself. For several centuries

736-534: A leading supplier of 1.5 - 5.5 kilowatt Geosynchronous-Earth Orbit (GEO) communications satellites used to provide direct-to-home TV broadcasting, cable program distribution, business data network capacity, regional mobile communications and similar services. With its new GEOStar-3 satellite platform, Orbital is extending its capabilities with up to 8 kW of total satellite payload power. The list of Orbital built GeoStar satellites are provided next. LEO communications satellites Orbital

828-430: A new company called Orbital ATK. The merger was completed on 9 February 2015 and Orbital Sciences ceased to exist as an independent entity. On 18 September 2017, Northrop Grumman announced plans to purchase Orbital ATK for US$ 7.8 billion in cash plus assumption of US$ 1.4 billion in debt, and on 6 June 2018, the acquisition was completed, and Orbital ATK became Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. As of 1 January 2020,

920-555: A new facility in Chandler, Arizona in 1989 to house the company's expanding rocket business. In 1990, the company successfully carried out eight space missions, highlighted by the initial launch of the Pegasus launch vehicle, the world's first privately developed space launch vehicle (the claim of being the first privately developed space launch vehicle can be contested as Pegasus received significant funding from NASA and DARPA , and

1012-443: A plane or sphere and, Poincaré argued, the same is true for the debate over whether real space is Euclidean or not. For him, which geometry was used to describe space was a matter of convention . Since Euclidean geometry is simpler than non-Euclidean geometry, he assumed the former would always be used to describe the 'true' geometry of the world. In 1905, Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity , which led to

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1104-498: A point P not on L 1 , there is exactly one straight line L 2 on the plane that passes through the point P and is parallel to the straight line L 1 . Until the 19th century, few doubted the truth of the postulate; instead debate centered over whether it was necessary as an axiom, or whether it was a theory that could be derived from the other axioms. Around 1830 though, the Hungarian János Bolyai and

1196-630: A predecessor private rocket exists, the Conestoga rocket). Shortly following the successful Pegasus launch, Orbital conducted an initial public offering (IPO) in 1990 and began trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange. In 1993, Orbital established its headquarters in Dulles, Virginia . In 1994, Orbital successfully conducted the inaugural launch of the Taurus (now renamed as Minotaur-C ) launch vehicle. In

1288-481: A similar way to the relations between family members. Although people in the family are related to one another, the relations do not exist independently of the people. Leibniz argued that space could not exist independently of objects in the world because that implies a difference between two universes exactly alike except for the location of the material world in each universe. But since there would be no observational way of telling these universes apart then, according to

1380-544: A standard meter or simply meter, is defined as the distance traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of exactly 1/299,792,458 of a second. This definition coupled with present definition of the second is based on the special theory of relativity in which the speed of light plays the role of a fundamental constant of nature. Geography is the branch of science concerned with identifying and describing places on Earth , utilizing spatial awareness to try to understand why things exist in specific locations. Cartography

1472-405: A way that all objects expand and contract in similar proportions in different places on the sphere. With a suitable falloff in temperature, if the scientists try to use measuring rods to determine the sum of the angles in a triangle, they can be deceived into thinking that they inhabit a plane, rather than a spherical surface. In fact, the scientists cannot in principle determine whether they inhabit

1564-416: Is a priori because it belongs to the subjective constitution of our mind as the form or manner of our intuition of external objects. Euclid's Elements contained five postulates that form the basis for Euclidean geometry. One of these, the parallel postulate , has been the subject of debate among mathematicians for many centuries. It states that on any plane on which there is a straight line L 1 and

1656-593: Is hyperbolic-orthogonal to each of the three spatial dimensions. Before Albert Einstein 's work on relativistic physics, time and space were viewed as independent dimensions. Einstein's discoveries showed that due to relativity of motion our space and time can be mathematically combined into one object– spacetime . It turns out that distances in space or in time separately are not invariant with respect to Lorentz coordinate transformations, but distances in Minkowski space along spacetime intervals are—which justifies

1748-478: Is also a provider of low-Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites, having conceived, built and deployed the ORBCOMM network. ORBCOMM was the first global communications network to employ a constellation of LEO satellites. From 1994–1999, Orbital built and deployed 35 satellites, and integrated five “gateway” ground stations and a network operations center to manage the satellites and process their data. Under

1840-622: Is capable of delivering 2,000 kg of pressurized cargo to the ISS. An enhanced version to be flown in later CRS missions is able to deliver 2,700 kg of pressurized cargo. The first of the eight contracted Cygnus missions to the ISS was completed on 18 February 2014. The October 28, 2014, launch failure was the third contracted Cygnus mission to the ISS. Orbital's Missile Defense Systems product line consists of interceptors and target vehicles. GEO communications satellites With its proprietary GEOStar-2 satellite platform, Orbital has become

1932-528: Is conceived as curved , rather than flat , as in the Euclidean space . According to Albert Einstein 's theory of general relativity , space around gravitational fields deviates from Euclidean space. Experimental tests of general relativity have confirmed that non-Euclidean geometries provide a better model for the shape of space. Debates concerning the nature, essence and the mode of existence of space date back to antiquity; namely, to treatises like

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2024-582: Is currently scheduled for 2017. Orbital's heritage programs in advanced flight systems include the NASA X-34 and X-43 programs, and the Orion Launch Abort System , among others. Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions . In classical physics , physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions . Modern physicists usually consider it, with time , to be part of

2116-474: Is curved. Carl Friedrich Gauss , a German mathematician, was the first to consider an empirical investigation of the geometrical structure of space. He thought of making a test of the sum of the angles of an enormous stellar triangle, and there are reports that he actually carried out a test, on a small scale, by triangulating mountain tops in Germany. Henri Poincaré , a French mathematician and physicist of

2208-427: Is important due to its necessary relevance to survival, especially with regards to hunting and self preservation as well as simply one's idea of personal space . Several space-related phobias have been identified, including agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces), astrophobia (the fear of celestial space) and claustrophobia (the fear of enclosed spaces). The understanding of three-dimensional space in humans

2300-408: Is known at the present. On the other hand, it can be related to other fundamental quantities. Thus, similar to other fundamental quantities (like time and mass ), space can be explored via measurement and experiment. Today, our three-dimensional space is viewed as embedded in a four-dimensional spacetime , called Minkowski space (see special relativity ). The idea behind spacetime is that time

2392-475: Is no more than the collection of spatial relations between objects in the world: "space is that which results from places taken together". Unoccupied regions are those that could have objects in them, and thus spatial relations with other places. For Leibniz, then, space was an idealised abstraction from the relations between individual entities or their possible locations and therefore could not be continuous but must be discrete . Space could be thought of in

2484-481: Is not known, but space is known to be expanding very rapidly due to the cosmic inflation . The measurement of physical space has long been important. Although earlier societies had developed measuring systems, the International System of Units , (SI), is now the most common system of units used in the measuring of space, and is almost universally used. Currently, the standard space interval, called

2576-767: Is on the multiple and overlapping social processes that produce space. In his book The Condition of Postmodernity, David Harvey describes what he terms the " time-space compression ." This is the effect of technological advances and capitalism on our perception of time, space and distance. Changes in the modes of production and consumption of capital affect and are affected by developments in transportation and technology. These advances create relationships across time and space, new markets and groups of wealthy elites in urban centers, all of which annihilate distances and affect our perception of linearity and distance. In his book Thirdspace, Edward Soja describes space and spatiality as an integral and neglected aspect of what he calls

2668-666: Is one of two companies providing commercial cargo resupply services to the ISS for NASA. Orbital's medium-class rocket - Antares is used to launch the Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft to deliver cargo to the ISS. Under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, Orbital will perform eight cargo missions to the ISS. Operational flights began in 2013 from the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island in Virginia. In addition,

2760-531: Is postulated that spacetime is geometrically distorted – curved – near to gravitationally significant masses. One consequence of this postulate, which follows from the equations of general relativity, is the prediction of moving ripples of spacetime, called gravitational waves . While indirect evidence for these waves has been found (in the motions of the Hulse–Taylor binary system, for example) experiments attempting to directly measure these waves are ongoing at

2852-438: Is stationary with respect to them; and objects are measured to be shortened in the direction that they are moving with respect to the observer. Subsequently, Einstein worked on a general theory of relativity , which is a theory of how gravity interacts with spacetime. Instead of viewing gravity as a force field acting in spacetime, Einstein suggested that it modifies the geometric structure of spacetime itself. According to

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2944-415: Is the mapping of spaces to allow better navigation, for visualization purposes and to act as a locational device. Geostatistics apply statistical concepts to collected spatial data of Earth to create an estimate for unobserved phenomena. Geographical space is often considered as land, and can have a relation to ownership usage (in which space is seen as property or territory). While some cultures assert

3036-412: Is thought to be learned during infancy using unconscious inference , and is closely related to hand-eye coordination . The visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions is called depth perception . Space has been studied in the social sciences from the perspectives of Marxism , feminism , postmodernism , postcolonialism , urban theory and critical geography . These theories account for

3128-442: Is used for column measurements of oxygen (A-band 0.765 microns), and two are used for column measurements of carbon dioxide (weak band 1.61 microns, strong band 2.06 microns). In the retrieval algorithm measurements from the three bands are combined to yield column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of carbon dioxide. Because these are dry-air mole fractions, these measurements do not change with water content or surface pressure. Because

3220-664: The Timaeus of Plato , or Socrates in his reflections on what the Greeks called khôra (i.e. "space"), or in the Physics of Aristotle (Book IV, Delta) in the definition of topos (i.e. place), or in the later "geometrical conception of place" as "space qua extension" in the Discourse on Place ( Qawl fi al-Makan ) of the 11th-century Arab polymath Alhazen . Many of these classical philosophical questions were discussed in

3312-583: The Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP) program for the U.S. Air Force . The wide-field of view sensor was hosted on an Orbital-built commercial GEO communications satellite. Orbital's hosted payload program takes advantage of the high frequency of commercial satellite launches and the excess resources that typically exist on a commercial communications satellite to provide frequent and low-cost access to space for National Security Systems. Orbital's current advanced flight systems programs include

3404-510: The LIGO and Virgo collaborations. LIGO scientists reported the first such direct observation of gravitational waves on 14 September 2015. Relativity theory leads to the cosmological question of what shape the universe is, and where space came from. It appears that space was created in the Big Bang , 13.8 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since. The overall shape of space

3496-592: The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The TMS unit combined satellite navigation and wireless communications to enable transit control centers to manage the dispatch of public transit, highway service vehicles and commuter light rail systems. As of 2008, the technology was used by more than 60 clients, exceeding 27500 vehicles, or more than 30% of the United States and Canada fleet. TMS clients included some of

3588-815: The New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol ORB . Orbital's primary products were satellites and launch vehicles , including low Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous Earth orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications , remote sensing , scientific and defense missions; ground- and air-launched launch vehicles that delivered satellites into orbit; missile defense systems that were used as interceptor and target vehicles; and human-rated space systems for Earth orbit, lunar and other missions. Orbital also provided satellite subsystems and space-related technical services to government agencies and laboratories. On 29 April 2014, Orbital Sciences announced that it would merge with Alliant Techsystems to create

3680-519: The Renaissance and then reformulated in the 17th century, particularly during the early development of classical mechanics . Isaac Newton viewed space as absolute, existing permanently and independently of whether there was any matter in the. In contrast, other natural philosophers , notably Gottfried Leibniz , thought that space was in fact a collection of relations between objects, given by their distance and direction from one another. In

3772-460: The identity of indiscernibles , there would be no real difference between them. According to the principle of sufficient reason , any theory of space that implied that there could be these two possible universes must therefore be wrong. Newton took space to be more than relations between material objects and based his position on observation and experimentation. For a relationist there can be no real difference between inertial motion , in which

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3864-576: The " trialectics of being ," the three modes that determine how we inhabit, experience and understand the world. He argues that critical theories in the Humanities and Social Sciences study the historical and social dimensions of our lived experience, neglecting the spatial dimension. He builds on Henri Lefebvre's work to address the dualistic way in which humans understand space—as either material/physical or as represented/imagined. Lefebvre's "lived space" and Soja's "thirdspace" are terms that account for

3956-424: The 1850s, Bernhard Riemann developed an equivalent theory of elliptical geometry , in which no parallel lines pass through P . In this geometry, triangles have more than 180° and circles have a ratio of circumference-to-diameter that is less than pi . Although there was a prevailing Kantian consensus at the time, once non-Euclidean geometries had been formalised, some began to wonder whether or not physical space

4048-454: The 18th century, the philosopher and theologian George Berkeley attempted to refute the "visibility of spatial depth" in his Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision . Later, the metaphysician Immanuel Kant said that the concepts of space and time are not empirical ones derived from experiences of the outside world—they are elements of an already given systematic framework that humans possess and use to structure all experiences. Kant referred to

4140-640: The 35-satellite ORBCOMM data communications network, and the 81 spacecraft (integration and test) for the IridiumNEXT constellation. Earth imagery and high resolution digital imaging satellites such as the OrbView series are also developed and manufactured by Orbital. The science and environmental satellites developed by Orbital perform scientific research, carry out deep space exploration (e.g. Dawn spacecraft), conduct remote sensing missions (e.g. Landsat 4, 5 and 8 ), and demonstrate new space technologies. In

4232-467: The 7320-10C configuration, the rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base . The initial launch attempt on 1 July at 09:56:44 UTC was scrubbed at 46 seconds on the countdown clock due to a faulty valve on the water suppression system, used to flow water on the launch pad to dampen the acoustic energy during launch. OCO-2 joined the A-train satellite constellation , becoming

4324-477: The Aristotelian worldview with a theory about space and motion as determined by natural laws . In other words, he sought a metaphysical foundation or a mechanical explanation for his theories about matter and motion. Cartesian space was Euclidean in structure—infinite, uniform and flat. It was defined as that which contained matter; conversely, matter by definition had a spatial extension so that there

4416-505: The Russian Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky separately published treatises on a type of geometry that does not include the parallel postulate, called hyperbolic geometry . In this geometry, an infinite number of parallel lines pass through the point P . Consequently, the sum of angles in a triangle is less than 180° and the ratio of a circle 's circumference to its diameter is greater than pi . In

4508-535: The U.S. missile defense systems. In the last 10 years, Orbital conducted nearly 50 major launches for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the U.S. Air Force , the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy to develop, test and enhance U.S. missile defense systems. Orbital's Advanced Programs Group focused on developing and producing human-rated space systems, satellites and related systems for national security space programs, and advanced flight systems for atmospheric and space missions. In support of human space systems, Orbital

4600-410: The areas that its customers are pursuing. The Orbital employees often work side-by-side with the customers' technical staff at their facilities. They perform a wide range of functions, from system-level efforts such as special payload equipment and training support for NASA's Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions to component-level tasks including development of high-energy microwave transmitters for

4692-528: The bucket argument was considered decisive in showing that space must exist independently of matter. In the eighteenth century the German philosopher Immanuel Kant published his theory of space as "a property of our mind" by which "we represent to ourselves objects as outside us, and all as in space" in the Critique of Pure Reason On his view the nature of spatial predicates are "relations that only attach to

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4784-929: The buyout on 29 November 2017. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the acquisition with conditions on 5 June 2018, and one day later, Orbital ATK were absorbed and became Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems . Orbital was a provider of small- to medium-class satellites. Since the company's founding in 1982, Orbital has delivered 150 spacecraft to commercial, military and civil customers worldwide. To date, these spacecraft have amassed well over 1000 years of on-orbit operations. The communications and imaging satellites developed by Orbital are smaller and more affordable. The geosynchronous orbit (GEO) communications satellites provide commercial satellite services such as direct-to-home digital television , business data transmission, cable program distribution and wireless communications. In addition, Orbital also provides constellations of low Earth orbit communications satellites such as

4876-477: The community, and managed in their name by delegated bodies; such spaces are open to all, while private property is the land culturally owned by an individual or company, for their own use and pleasure. Abstract space is a term used in geography to refer to a hypothetical space characterized by complete homogeneity. When modeling activity or behavior, it is a conceptual tool used to limit extraneous variables such as terrain. Psychologists first began to study

4968-497: The company is exploring opportunities to adapt the Cygnus design for other possible space exploration applications. For National Security Space systems, Orbital provides products ranging from smaller, more affordable spacecraft busses to hosted payload applications. For Advanced Flight systems, Orbital is applying its to design and build an intermediate-class air-launched rocket system for Stratolaunch Systems . Orbital has developed

5060-476: The complex ways in which humans understand and navigate place, which "firstspace" and "Secondspace" (Soja's terms for material and imagined spaces respectively) do not fully encompass. Postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha 's concept of Third Space is different from Soja's Thirdspace, even though both terms offer a way to think outside the terms of a binary logic. Bhabha's Third Space is the space in which hybrid cultural forms and identities exist. In his theories,

5152-449: The concept that space and time can be viewed as a single construct known as spacetime . In this theory, the speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers—which has the result that two events that appear simultaneous to one particular observer will not be simultaneous to another observer if the observers are moving with respect to one another. Moreover, an observer will measure a moving clock to tick more slowly than one that

5244-429: The contract with Stratolaunch Systems to design a new intermediate-class rocket to be carried aloft and launched from the largest aircraft ever built- Stratolaunch carrier aircraft . Orbital is responsible for the program's overall systems engineering, and the development, production, test, and operations of the air-launch rocket and related ground operations, including payload and launch vehicle integration. A demo launch

5336-457: The cost and accelerate the development and deployment of national security space systems. For example, Orbital's GEOStar-1 spacecraft provides a compact platform optimized for GEO missions (adaptable for MEO for launch aboard Minotaur , Falcon , and EELV launch vehicles to deliver resilient capabilities in a relatively short period of time (years instead of decades). Orbital's hosted payload capabilities in national security systems include

5428-406: The design of buildings and structures, and on farming. Ownership of space is not restricted to land. Ownership of airspace and of waters is decided internationally. Other forms of ownership have been recently asserted to other spaces—for example to the radio bands of the electromagnetic spectrum or to cyberspace . Public space is a term used to define areas of land as collectively owned by

5520-468: The development of the Antares space launch vehicle, Orbital is extending its capabilities to provide medium-class launch services for U.S. government , commercial and international customers. The inaugural launch of Antares occurred on 21 April 2013 from Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) at Wallops Island , Virginia. Orbital is also a major provider of suborbital target and interceptor launch vehicles for

5612-404: The early 2000s, Orbital continued expanding its missile defense systems business with a US$ 900 million award to develop, build, test and support interceptor booster vehicles. In 2006, Orbital conducted its 500th mission since the company's founding with products that included satellites, launch vehicles, and missile defense systems. In 2007, the first interplanetary spacecraft built by Orbital, Dawn

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5704-416: The effect of the history of colonialism, transatlantic slavery and globalization on our understanding and experience of space and place. The topic has garnered attention since the 1980s, after the publication of Henri Lefebvre 's The Production of Space . In this book, Lefebvre applies Marxist ideas about the production of commodities and accumulation of capital to discuss space as a social product. His focus

5796-485: The experience of "space" in his Critique of Pure Reason as being a subjective "pure a priori form of intuition". Galilean and Cartesian theories about space, matter, and motion are at the foundation of the Scientific Revolution , which is understood to have culminated with the publication of Newton 's Principia Mathematica in 1687. Newton's theories about space and time helped him explain

5888-529: The fast-growing Geosynchronous (GEO) communications satellite market. In 2010, Orbital acquired the Gilbert, Arizona -based satellite development and manufacturing unit from General Dynamics (General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, formerly Spectrum Astro) to complement its main satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia. On 29 April 2014, Orbital Sciences announced that it had entered into

5980-406: The form of intuition alone, and thus to the subjective constitution of our mind, without which these predicates could not be attached to anything at all." This develops his theory of knowledge in which knowledge about space itself can be both a priori and synthetic . According to Kant, knowledge about space is synthetic because any proposition about space cannot be true merely in virtue of

6072-462: The general theory, time goes more slowly at places with lower gravitational potentials and rays of light bend in the presence of a gravitational field. Scientists have studied the behaviour of binary pulsars , confirming the predictions of Einstein's theories, and non-Euclidean geometry is usually used to describe spacetime. In modern mathematics spaces are defined as sets with some added structure. They are typically topological spaces , in which

6164-872: The last 10 years, Orbital has built more scientific and environmental monitoring satellites for NASA than any other company. Orbital's space launch vehicles are considered the industry standard for boosting small payloads to orbit. The Pegasus launch vehicle is launched from the company's L-1011 carrier aircraft, Stargazer and has proven to be the industry's small space launch workhorse, having conducted 40 missions from six different launch sites worldwide since 1990. The Minotaur ground-launched launch vehicles combine Pegasus upper-stages with either government-supplied or commercially available first-stage rocket motors to boost larger payloads to orbit. Minotaur IV combines decommissioned Peacekeeper rocket motors with proven Orbital avionics and fairings to provide increased lifting capacity for government-sponsored payloads. With

6256-413: The late 19th century, introduced an important insight in which he attempted to demonstrate the futility of any attempt to discover which geometry applies to space by experiment. He considered the predicament that would face scientists if they were confined to the surface of an imaginary large sphere with particular properties, known as a sphere-world . In this world, the temperature is taken to vary in such

6348-430: The meaning of the terms contained in the proposition. In the counter-example, the proposition "all unmarried men are bachelors" is true by virtue of each term's meaning. Further, space is a priori because it is the form of our receptive abilities to receive information about the external world. For example, someone without sight can still perceive spatial attributes via touch, hearing, and smell. Knowledge of space itself

6440-727: The mission requirements and budget. Astrophysics satellites Orbital's current and heritage astrophysics satellites are as listed below: Remote sensing/Earth observation Orbital's current and heritage Remote Sensing/Earth Observation satellites are as listed below: Heliophysics Orbital's heritage Heliophysics satellites are as listed below: Planetary exploration Orbital's heritage Planetary Exploration Heliophysics satellites are as listed below: Orbital's national security systems range from smaller, more affordable spacecraft buses (e.g. disaggregated systems) to hosted payload applications. Orbital advocates disaggregated systems because conceptually disaggregated systems can lower

6532-592: The molecular oxygen content of the atmosphere (i.e. excluding the oxygen in water vapour) is well known to be 20.95%, oxygen is used as a measure of the total dry air column. To ensure these measurements are traceable to the World Meteorological Organization , OCO-2 measurements are carefully compared with measurements by the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). Mission data are provided to

6624-468: The movement of objects. While his theory of space is considered the most influential in physics, it emerged from his predecessors' ideas about the same. As one of the pioneers of modern science , Galileo revised the established Aristotelian and Ptolemaic ideas about a geocentric cosmos. He backed the Copernican theory that the universe was heliocentric , with a stationary Sun at the center and

6716-603: The name was changed to Space Systems under a large restructuring and rebranding initiative. Orbital was founded and incorporated in 1982 by three friends who had met earlier while at Harvard Business School — David W. Thompson, Bruce Walker Ferguson , and Scott L. Webster. Initial capitalization for Orbital was provided by Fred C. Alcorn, a Texas oilman and Sam Dunnam, a Texas businessman in September 1982. In 1985, Orbital procured its first contract for providing up to four transfer orbital stage (TOS) vehicles to NASA . In 1987,

6808-546: The name. In addition, time and space dimensions should not be viewed as exactly equivalent in Minkowski space. One can freely move in space but not in time. Thus, time and space coordinates are treated differently both in special relativity (where time is sometimes considered an imaginary coordinate) and in general relativity (where different signs are assigned to time and space components of spacetime metric ). Furthermore, in Einstein's general theory of relativity , it

6900-568: The nation's largest fleet management systems, such as Los Angeles , Chicago , and Washington, D.C. In 2008, the technology services provider Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) Inc. agreed to buy the Transportation Management Systems unit for US$ 42.5 million. The sale transferred an estimated 130 to 140 Orbital employees based in Columbia, Maryland , to ACS. Orbital's primary locations are listed below- With

6992-433: The object travels with constant velocity , and non-inertial motion , in which the velocity changes with time, since all spatial measurements are relative to other objects and their motions. But Newton argued that since non-inertial motion generates forces , it must be absolute. He used the example of water in a spinning bucket to demonstrate his argument. Water in a bucket is hung from a rope and set to spin, starts with

7084-517: The operational concept and completed the preliminary design for the air-launched rocket. It will be responsible for the development, production, test and operations of the full system and related ground operations. The Technical Services Division (TSD) provided engineering, production and technical management expertise primarily for space-related science and defense programs. Typically, it supplies specialized personnel — engineers, scientists, technicians and other professionals — with specific knowledge in

7176-676: The planets—including the Earth—revolving around the Sun. If the Earth moved, the Aristotelian belief that its natural tendency was to remain at rest was in question. Galileo wanted to prove instead that the Sun moved around its axis, that motion was as natural to an object as the state of rest. In other words, for Galileo, celestial bodies, including the Earth, were naturally inclined to move in circles. This view displaced another Aristotelian idea—that all objects gravitated towards their designated natural place-of-belonging. Descartes set out to replace

7268-801: The public by the NASA Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). The Level 1B data product is the least processed and contains records for all collected soundings (about 74,000 soundings per orbit). The Level 2 product contains estimates of the column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of carbon dioxide, among other parameters such as surface albedo and aerosol content. The Level 3 product consists of global maps of carbon dioxide concentrations developed by OCO-2 scientists. [REDACTED] Media related to Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 at Wikimedia Commons Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital )

7360-577: The rights of the individual in terms of ownership, other cultures will identify with a communal approach to land ownership, while still other cultures such as Australian Aboriginals , rather than asserting ownership rights to land, invert the relationship and consider that they are in fact owned by the land. Spatial planning is a method of regulating the use of space at land-level, with decisions made at regional, national and international levels. Space can also impact on human and cultural behavior, being an important factor in architecture, where it will impact on

7452-513: The seeds for the Orbcomm constellation were planted when Orbital began investigating a system using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to collect data from remote locations. In 1988, Orbital acquired Space Data Corporation in Arizona — one of the world's leading suppliers of suborbital rockets — thereby broadening its rocket business and manufacturing capabilities. This was followed by the opening of

7544-531: The sixth satellite in the group. Members of the A-train fly very close together in Sun-synchronous orbit , to make nearly simultaneous measurements of Earth. A particularly short launch window of 30 seconds was necessary to achieve a proper position in the train. As of 19 September 2016 it was in an orbit with a perigee of 701.10 km (435.64 mi), an apogee of 703.81 km (437.33 mi) and

7636-511: The spacecraft and the rocket did not have sufficient power to enter orbit with its additional mass. Although a Taurus launch was initially contracted for the reflight, the launch contract was cancelled after the same malfunction occurred on the launch of the Glory satellite two years later. United Launch Alliance launched OCO-2 using a Delta II rocket at the beginning of a 30-second launch window at 09:56 UTC (2:56 PDT) on 2 July 2014. Flying in

7728-505: The success of Cygnus Orb-D1 and Cygnus CRS Orb-1 . Orbital Science made a number of strategic acquisitions in the 1990s and 2000s to strengthen its position in the satellite market. In 1994, Orbital completed acquisition of Fairchild Industries ' subsidiary Space and Defense Corporation, and merged the Fairchild Space business with its own satellite design and manufacturing division. The electronics business of this subsidiary

7820-504: The successful demonstration in September 2013 of the Cygnus spacecraft and the Antares launch vehicle under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Orbital commenced regular ISS cargo missions under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. The total NASA contract to Orbital is worth $ 1.9 Billion for providing eight pressurized cargo missions to the ISS. Cygnus

7912-773: The way for today's space-based Earth imaging industry. In addition to the OrbView satellites the company also built the GeoEye-1 high resolution imaging satellite. Orbital LEOStar-2 and -3 spacecraft platforms are designed to support a variety of multispectral, visible and thermal imaging payloads. A list of commercial imaging satellites built by Orbital is provided next. Orbital built Science and Environmental satellites conduct astrophysics , Remote sensing/Earth Observation , heliophysics , planetary exploration and technology demonstration missions. These satellites are built on Orbital's LEOStar-1,-2, or -3 satellite platforms depending on

8004-461: The way space is perceived in the middle of the 19th century. Those now concerned with such studies regard it as a distinct branch of psychology . Psychologists analyzing the perception of space are concerned with how recognition of an object's physical appearance or its interactions are perceived, see, for example, visual space . Other, more specialized topics studied include amodal perception and object permanence . The perception of surroundings

8096-625: The world to our ability to think rather than to our experiences, as the empiricists believe. He posited a clear distinction between the body and mind, which is referred to as the Cartesian dualism . Following Galileo and Descartes, during the seventeenth century the philosophy of space and time revolved around the ideas of Gottfried Leibniz , a German philosopher–mathematician, and Isaac Newton , who set out two opposing theories of what space is. Rather than being an entity that independently exists over and above other matter, Leibniz held that space

8188-430: Was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other government customers. In 2014, Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to create a new company called Orbital ATK , which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. Orbital was headquartered in Dulles, Virginia and publicly traded on

8280-521: Was later sold off in 2000. In 1997, Orbital acquired CTA, Inc, a company that, under the spacecraft design engineering and business leadership of Tom van der Heyden - designer of the GEOStar spacecraft - had designed and built the first geostationary "lightsat" under contract to Indonesia for Asia's first Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television broadcast program, and the world's first S-Band television broadcast satellite - providing an entry into

8372-560: Was launched on an eight-year, three-billion-mile journey to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A major milestone in the company's history was in 2008 when it received a long-term NASA contract to provide cargo transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with a value of approximately US$ 1.9 billion for missions from 2011 to 2015. Orbital used its Cygnus spacecraft and Antares launch vehicle to transport cargo to ISS following

8464-417: Was no such thing as empty space. The Cartesian notion of space is closely linked to his theories about the nature of the body, mind and matter. He is famously known for his "cogito ergo sum" (I think therefore I am), or the idea that we can only be certain of the fact that we can doubt, and therefore think and therefore exist. His theories belong to the rationalist tradition, which attributes knowledge about

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