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August
17, 2001 - NEWEST ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SNAPS FIRST IMAGE
 The
nation's newest environmental satellite has sent back its first image from space,
NASA and the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) announced today.
GOES-12,
a geostationary weather satellite that takes images of clouds, measures temperature,
reads the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, and monitors space weather, sent
back a clear, crisp image from its vantage point 22,300 miles in space. The satellite
was launched on July 23 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. GOES-12 will
be stored in orbit and will replace either GOES-8 or GOES-10 as needed. "The
image quality is excellent," said Martin A. Davis, the NASA GOES Program
Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "This shows
that the Imager visible channel is working as expected." NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center manages satellite design, development and launch,
and on-orbit checkout of the GOES satellites for NOAA. NOAA's
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) operates
the GOES series of satellites from its Suitland, Md., facility. After the satellites
complete on-orbit checkout, NESDIS assumes responsibility for command and control,
data receipt, and product generation and distribution. NESDIS is the nation's
primary source of space-based meteorological and climate data. The NESDIS environmental
satellites are used for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and other environmental
applications such as fire detection, ozone monitoring, and sea surface temperature
measurements. The
first GOES-M image is available at (click on "Current Events"): http://www.osei.noaa.gov
Also
links to the larger files can be found in the "Viewable Images" navigation
bar to the right.
July
23, 2001 - GOES-M Environmental Spacecraft Successfully Launched
An advanced environmental satellite equipped with instruments to monitor
Earth's weather and with a telescope that will be used to detect solar storms
soared into space this morning at 3:23:01 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Fla.
The satellite, GOES-M, will monitor hurricanes, severe
thunderstorms, flash floods and other severe weather. It is the first of the GOES
satellites equipped with a Solar X-ray Imager which will be used to forecast earth
space weather due to solar activity.
NOAA's Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite (GOES)-M spacecraft was carried into space aboard a Lockheed
Martin Atlas IIA rocket. Twenty-seven minutes later, the spacecraft separated
from the Centaur stage. At approximately 4:40 a.m., controllers successfully deployed
the outer panel of the solar array, making the spacecraft power positive.
"We're off to a great start," said Martin Davis, GOES project manager
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "The spacecraft is
now in transfer orbit and all data indicates we have a healthy spacecraft."
The spacecraft is a three-axis internally stabilized weather spacecraft that
has the dual capability of providing pictures while performing atmospheric sounding
at the same time. Once in geostationary orbit, the spacecraft is to be designated
GOES-12.
Throughout the next 17 days, NASA and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) controllers are scheduled to perform several
apogee motor firings and adjust maneuvers, culminating with the spacecraft arriving
in a geosynchronous orbit 22,240 miles (35,790 kilometers) above the Earth's equator
at 90 degrees West Longitude. Controllers will operate the spacecraft from the
NOAA's Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md.
The first
of several burns to move the spacecraft into its final orbit begin approximately
20 hours after liftoff, when controllers perform the first apogee motor firing,
lasting for 53 minutes. The second firing is scheduled for approximately four
days after liftoff and will last for 30 minutes.
The third and final
apogee motor firing is scheduled for approximately six days after liftoff, and
will last for approximately six minutes. Apogee is the point at which a spacecraft
is farthest from the Earth and at its minimum velocity. Apogee burns are designed
to boost GOES-M from its transfer orbit to geosynchronous orbit.
The
primary objective of the GOES-M launch is to provide a fully capable spacecraft
in on-orbit storage, which can be activated on short notice to assure continuity
of services from a two-spacecraft constellation.
GOES-M was built and
launched for NOAA under technical guidance and project management by the NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center.
GOES information and imagery are available
on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.goes.noaa.gov
http://goes2.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/
The images taken by the Solar X-ray Imager will be available in real
time to the general public via the World Wide Web, through NOAA's National Geophysical
Data Center in Boulder, Colo. When available, the images will be at: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/stp.html
July
20, 2001 - NASA,
NOAA PREPARE TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE DESIGNED TO SEE SOLAR STORMS Another
workhorse of weather forecasting is ready for launch, but the next advanced environmental
satellite sent into orbit will be the first capable of detecting storms outside
our Earth's atmosphere. The
satellite, GOES-M, will monitor hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, flash floods
and other severe weather. However, this satellite also comes equipped with the
first operational Solar X-ray Imager to detect solar storms. GOES-M,
or Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, is scheduled to lift-off
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, 3:01 a.m. EDT, July 22, on top of a
Lockheed Martin Atlas II rocket. Real-time
weather data gathered by GOES satellites, combined with data from Doppler radars
and automated surface observing systems, helps weather forecasters provide better
warnings of severe weather. GOES-M provides the ability to monitor and forecast
turbulent solar events, which is valuable to operators and users of military and
civilian radio and satellite communications systems, navigation systems and power
networks, as well as to astronauts, high-altitude aviators and scientists. The
GOES-M Solar X-ray Imager will take a full-disk image of the Sun's atmosphere
once every minute. The images will be used by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force to monitor
and forecast solar flares, coronal mass ejections, coronal holes and active regions.
These features are the dominant sources of disturbances in space weather that
lead to geomagnetic storms. "The
SXI will provide the kind of improvements in space weather forecasting that satellite
imagery did for tracking hurricanes," said Steven Hill, SXI Program Manager
at NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, CO. The
United States operates two GOES meteorological satellites in geostationary orbit
22,300 miles over the Equator, one over the East Coast and one over the West Coast.
NOAA's GOES-10 spacecraft, launched in 1997, is currently overlooking the West
Coast out into the Pacific including Hawaii; it is located at 135 degrees west
longitude. GOES-8, launched in April 1994, is overlooking the East Coast out into
the Atlantic Ocean and is positioned at 75 degrees west longitude.
"NASA
is excited about providing another fine tool for the NOAA to use in weather operations,
including space weather forecasts," said Martin A. Davis, GOES program manager
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. "The launch of the
GOES-M is the continuation of a 25-year joint program between NASA and NOAA." GOES-M
will be stored on orbit ready for operation when needed as a replacement for GOES-8
or 10. It joins GOES-11, also in storage. "GOES-M will ensure continuity
of GOES data, especially for the Atlantic hurricane season," added Gerald
Dittberner, GOES program manager, Suitland, MD. The satellite will be renamed
GOES-12 once reaching geostationary orbit. NOAA's
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service operates the GOES
series of satellites. After the satellites complete on-orbit checkout, NOAA assumes
responsibility for command and control, data receipt, and product generation and
distribution. Images
taken by the GOES-M Solar X-ray Imager will be available in real time to the general
public via the World Wide Web, through NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center
in Boulder, CO, at:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/stp.html Additional
GOES information, imagery and space weather information are available on the Internet
at:
http://www.goes.noaa.gov
http://goes2.gsfc.nasa.gov http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ Space
weather information is available at: http://sec.noaa.gov
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July
10, 2001 - LAUNCH OF GOES-M WEATHER SATELLITE POSTPONED
The launch
of the GOES-M environmental satellite for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA rocket (AC-142) has been
postponed one week to no earlier than July 22.
This new launch date is
pending the repair and delivery of the Remote Control Unit, a portion of the launch
vehicle guidance system on the Centaur upper stage.
When the repaired
unit is reinstalled on the rocket, the vehicle will then undergo a combined electrical
readiness test to ensure all systems are functioning properly.
The launch
window on July 22 is 3:01 - 4:25 a.m. EDT.
 At
the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility, the GOES-M satellite is offloaded from the yawning
mouth of the C-5 aircraft. It will be transferred to Astrotech in Titusville,
Fla., for final testing. The GOES-M (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite,
I-M Series) provides weather imagery and quantitative sounding data used to support
weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorological research. The satellite
is scheduled to be launched on an Atlas-IIA booster, with a Centaur upper stage,
July 15 from Launch Pad 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  At
Astrotech, Titusville, Fla., a worker (right) turns the GOES-M satellite, bringing
its side into view. The GOES-M provides weather imagery and quantitative sounding
data used to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking and meteorological
research. The satellite is undergoing testing at Astrotech before its scheduled
launch July 15 on an Atlas-IIA booster, Centaur upper stage from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station.
 Workers
at Astrotech, Titusville, Fla., observe the solar panel on the GOES-M satellite
as they open it. The GOES-M provides weather imagery and quantitative sounding
data used to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking and meteorological
research. The satellite is scheduled to launch July 15 on an Atlas-IIA booster,
Centaur upper stage from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
 The
newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-M (GOES-M) satellite
is rotated at Astrotech, in Titusville for the media who are there to see the
last in the current series of advanced geostationary weather satellites in service.
GOES-M has a new instrument not on earlier spacecraft, a Solar X-ray Imager that
can be used in forecasting space weather, the effects of solar storms that create
electromagnetic disturbances on earth that affect other satellites, communications
and power grids. GOES is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
on an Atlas II rocket in July.
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