Talk:ADM-Aeolus

At what angle does ALADIN observe the atmosphere
It's only measuring line-of-sight velocities - so at what angle from the vertical does it observe the atmosphere ? Ahead/behind, or sideways to the satellite orbit ? Does the interpretation assume vertical velocities are zero ? - Rod57 (talk) 12:49, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Hello. I always enjoy your well-targeted questioning. ALADIN measures horizontally-projected single line-of-sight wind profiles. . Since it operates at line-of-sight, I reckon it does so at any angle, and it may have the capability for vertical movement too as most lidars do for ranging, but the science objectives are on the horizontal (wind) movement. I think this instrument merits its own section, if not a separate article. Cheers, Rowan Forest (talk) 13:52, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi - thanks - I had just found the answer (35° from nadir - sideways to orbit) and updated the article (and was about to delete my questions). - Rod57 (talk) 14:01, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
 * It does seem a magnificent instrument. I was sad to see the satellite life is only about 3 years. I expect that now/when it's seen to work there will be more ALADINs put in orbit, and the ALADIN section can be split out. - Rod57 (talk) 16:55, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

More spacecraft details
Lots more on the spacecraft design and control and operations at - it's a long page (that is updated with news) - hard to reference sections within it. 4 reaction wheels, 3 magnetic torquers, 4 hydrazine thrusters ... - Rod57 (talk) 14:01, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Excellent pointer! This contains the latest mission status, so I'll update the article as of the July 2019 update. - DutchTreat (talk) 11:48, 23 August 2019 (UTC)