Channel: NASA Goddard

Category: Science & Technology

Tags: nasagoddard space flight centerkatie jepsonearth sciencetrfgeodesy

Description: At the foundation of virtually all airborne, space-based and ground-based Earth observations is the TRF, or Terrestrial Reference Frame. The TRF relies on an accurate calculation of the geocenter of the Earth (the center mass of the Earth). However, one complication is that the geocenter is constantly changing with respect to the Earth’s surface. By using a network of ground stations equipped with telescopes and lasers that fire pulses at specific satellites, scientists can calculate where the geocenter of the Earth is at any given time to a few millimeters to ensure our Earth observations are accurate. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Katie Jepson (KBRwyle): Lead Producer, Editor, and Narration Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Lead Visualizer Stephen Merkowitz (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist Music: Kinda Frantic by Steve Rucker, Universal Production Music. This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14121. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery provided by pond5.com is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr flickr.com/photos/gsfc