In 2005, a study of on-orbit spacecraft failures was undertaken which resulted in identifying 156 failures occurring from 1980 to 2005 on civil and military spacecraft.
Results from the Mars Exploration Rovers and from spectrometers on orbiting spacecraft show that the ancient highlands are compositionally distinct from the younger plains.
The United States military is dependent on a network of orbiting spacecraft that perform all sorts of essential functions, including missile warning, GPS and guiding precision munitions, communication and even spying.
Simulation results based on the on-orbit servicing spacecraft show good performance under external disturbances, model parameter uncertainty and controller perturbation, which validates the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed control method.
In addition, the chemical-sensing instrument on the orbiting spacecraft cannot home in on details as small as the narrow channels, which typically are less than 16 feet wide.
The satellites detected subtle changes in the Earth's gravitational pull, noting where the heavier weight of water exerted a greater pull on the orbiting spacecraft.
Meridiani attracted attention because remote sensors on an orbiting spacecraft detected large deposits of gray hematite, an iron oxide mineral that is typically, though not invariably, formed on Earth in the presence of water.
Based on Earth-orbiting spacecraft observations, Io plasma torus (IPT) exhibited the peak intensity (nearly double) of ionic sulfur emissions roughly 2 month later, followed by a decay phase.
Jupiter magnetospheric interactions and surface composition, both important to subsurface ocean detection for the Galilean icy moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, can be measured using plasma ion mass spectrometry on either an orbiting spacecraft or one designed for multiple flybys of these moons.
The gas has previously been detected in Mars's atmosphere by orbiting spacecraft and by telescopes on Earth.
Only a fraction have stayed more than six months on the largest orbiting spacecraft ever built.
