Swedish Space Corporation has been commissioned by the Swedish National Space Board to control and operate the scientific satellite Odin an additional year, until December 2008. Since last year, Odin is also part of the European Space Agency's third party mission programme.
Odin was designed for a two-year mission and has now outlived the design goal life time by six years. Since the launch in 2001, Odin has delivered a large amount of data concerning the ozone layer depletion to scientists. A year ago, scientists discovered that measurements made by Odin in the stratosphere could be used also for studies of clouds and aerosols which may have a cooling effect on our planet, as against the warming effect of carbon dioxide.
Studies during a long period of time are essential for the understanding of the mechanisms related to climate changes. Consequently, Odin is, despite its respectable age or rather thanks to it, of great immediate interest. It is therefore of great importance that the operations of the satellite continues.
Odin
Odin was developed by Swedish Space Corporation on behalf of the Swedish National Space Board and the space agencies in Canada, Finland and France. Swedish Space is also responsible for control and operations of the satellite from its Mission Control Center at Esrange Space Center. Odin was launched in 2001 and from the beginning he had two missions; astronomy and aeronomy. Since 2007, Odin is working full time on studies of our atmosphere that concern our climate and environment.
