How long will the TERRIERS be collecting data?
We’ve designed the system for a one year mission. We’d like to operate it for much longer, but we can achieve most of our scientific goals much more quickly. We will operate it for as long as it lasts and basically just make hay for as long as the sun shines. • How long will TERRIERS remain in orbit (100 years, 200 years, etc.)? The TERRIERS orbit is targeted for 550 km. At that altitude the dominant disturbance is air drag from the upper atmosphere. Air drag will cause us to re-enter in 5 to 10 years. These numbers are not very accurate because we don’t know how accurately the Pegasus will insert us into orbit and we don’t know how intense the next solar cycle will be. Both of these factors will have a large effect on our lifetime.
