|
GOES-L
WEATHER SPACECRAFT SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED
The
fourth in a series of five of the most sophisticated weather
spacecraft ever built, soared into space this morning at 3:07
a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-L
spacecraft was carried in space aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas
IIA rocket. Twenty-seven minutes later, the spacecraft separated
from the Centaur stage. At approximately 4:22 a.m., controllers
successfully deployed the outer panel of the solar array,
making the spacecraft power positive and allowing the batteries
to charge.
"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 orbit the spacecraft
is to be designated GOES-11 and will complete its 90 day checkout
in time for availability during the 2000 hurricane season.
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 (35,788 kilometers) above the Earth's equator at 104
degrees West Longitude. Controllers will operate the spacecraft
from the NOAA 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-L from its transfer orbit to geosynchronous
orbit.
The
primary objective of the GOES-L launch is to provide a full
capability spacecraft in an on-orbit storage condition, to
assure continuity in services from a two-spacecraft constellation.
GOES-L
was built and launched for NOAA under technical guidance and
project management by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
For
additional GOES launch photos, click here
and go to the May 3 listing of photos.
Background
on GOES
The
GOES system is a basic element of U.S. weather monitoring
and forecast operations and is a key component of NOAA's National
Weather Service operations and modernization program. Spacecraft
and ground-based systems work together to accomplish the GOES
mission of providing weather imagery and quantitative sounding
data that form a continuous and reliable stream of environmental
information used for weather forecasting and related services.
The
new series of GOES satellites provides significant improvements
over the previous GOES system in weather imagery and atmospheric
sounding information. This enhanced system improves weather
services, particularly the forecasting of life- and property-threatening
severe storms.
GOES
I-M represents the next generation of meteorological satellites
and introduces two new features. The first feature, flexible
scan, offers small-scale area imaging that lets meteorologists
take pictures of local weather trouble spots. This allows
them to improve short-term forecasts over local areas. The
second feature, simultaneous and independent imaging and sounding,
is designed to allow weather forecasters to use multiple measurements
of weather phenomena to increase the accuracy of their forecasts.
Back
to Top
|
