The satellite on the edge of space

GOCE (pronounced go-chay), the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer, was one of ESA's most remarkable missions. Operating in the lowest-ever orbit of any Earth observation satellite, GOCE was on the edge of space; flying at an altitude of just 224 km. Launched in 2009 on a Rockot launcher from northern Russia, GOCE spent four years mapping Earth's gravity with unrivalled precision, resulting in a unique model of the 'geoid'—the hypothetical shape that the surface of the oceans would take under only the influence of Earth's gravity and rotation, ignoring the influence of winds and tides. More

(Source: Phys.Org - Aug 31)