Specifications Mass: 660 kilograms Dimensions: 2.72 meters high 1.61 meters wide (launch configuration) 11.73 meters wide (solar arrays deployed) 1.2 meters deep Power consumption: 406 watts Data downlink: 4 megabits per second Memory: 5 gigabits Control and data handling processor: Mongoose-V Attitude: Control - Within 0.50° Knowledge - Within 0.03° Processor: RTX2010 Total mission cost: Spacecraft: US$195 million Ground operations: US$42 million Satellite operations TIMED experienced minor problems with attitude control when, after launch, the magnetorquers failed to slow the spacecraft's spin as intended. An engineer installing the magnetorquers had mistakenly recorded the reverse of their actual polarities, which generated a sign error in the flight software. The problem was fixed by temporarily disabling the orbiter's magnetic field sensor and uploading a software patch to fix the sign error. In a separate incident, another software update fixed a problem caused by faulty testing of the sun sensors. After these corrections, the attitude control system functioned as intended. Scientific results TIMED has improved scientific understanding of long-term trends in the upper atmosphere. The SABER instrument has collected a continuous record of water vapor and carbon dioxide levels in the stratosphere and mesosphere. SABER is able to collect 1,500 water vapor measurements per day, a vast improvement from previous satellites and ground-based observations. SABER had a flaw in its optical filter that caused it to overestimate water vapor levels; this error was discovered and the data were corrected. Based on the corrected data, SABER found that between 2002 and 2018, water vapor levels in the lower stratosphere were increasing at an average rate of 0.25 ppmv (around 5%) per decade, and in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere, water vapor levels were increasing at an average rate of 0.1-0.2 ppmv (around 2-3%) per decade. Growth in methane levels is thought to be partially responsible for the growth in water vapor levels, as methane decomposes into carbon dioxide and water vapor, but changes driven by the solar cycle may also be responsible. SABER has also monitored carbon dioxide levels in the upper atmosphere. The instrument found that carbon dioxide levels in the upper atmosphere are increasing: at an altitude of , levels were rising at an average rate of 12% per decade. This rate is faster than what has been predicted by climate models, and suggests that there is more vertical mixing of than previously thought. By collecting upper atmosphere data, TIMED assists the