CONTACT: Patricia Viets, NOAA/NESDIS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 457-5005 7/24/95
Stephanie Kenitzer, NOAA/NWS
(301) 713-0622
Ernie Shannon, NASA/Goddard
(301) 286-6256
NASA turned health and safety operations of GOES-9, the country's latest advanced geostationary weather satellite, over to the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmopsheric Administration on July 21.
GOES-9 was launched on May 23 from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., and reached geostationary orbit on May 31. During the next few months, NOAA will monitor the health and safety of the satellite before placing it into operation later this year. Today the system performance and operations test will begin.
GOES-9 will join GOES-8 in providing meteorologists with information vital to timely and accurate weather forecasts.
"The advanced geostationary satellites provide precise and timely weather observations and atmospheric measurement data for the United States," said Gerry Dittberner, NOAA's GOES program manager. "The launch and checkout of this satellite illustrate the strong partnership between NOAA and NASA."
GOES-8, the first state-of-the-art geostationary environmental satellite, was launched April 13, 1994. It is currently positioned at 75 degrees West longitude, overlooking the East Coast of North and South America and well into the Atlantic Ocean. GOES-7 is overlooking the West Coast and well into the Pacific Ocean and Alaska. Once GOES-9 is fully operational, GOES-7 will be placed in standby mode. GOES-8 and GOES-9 will then be the two operational geostationary satellites.
GOES-8 and GOES-9 represent a major element of NOAA's National Weather Service's modernization program. The data gathered by the GOES satellites, combined with data from the new Doppler radars and the automated surface observing system, will greatly aid forecasters in providing better advance warnings of thunderstorms, flash floods, hurricanes, winter storms and other severe weather -- which will save lives, preserve property, and benefit agriculture, marine, aviation and commercial interests across the country.
GOES-8 and GOES-9 are also equipped with instruments designed to provide real-time measurements of solar activity, the charged particle environment, and the Earth's magnetic field at synchronous orbit. In addition, the satellites can relay distress signals from people, aircraft, or ships to search and rescue ground stations of the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking system.
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.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center administers the GOES contract for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth, Washington, D.C., which manages the design, development, and launch of the spacecraft for NOAA.