CONTACT:   Patricia Viets                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
           Stephanie Kenitzer                2/12/97

GOES-9 WEATHER SATELLITE UNDERGOING SPECIAL MANEUVERS

Planned maneuvers designed to protect the instruments on the GOES-9 weather satellite from excessive heat will begin on February 14 and cause some minor interruptions in data supply, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. The maneuvers are the same as those used last fall during the eclipse season, when instruments on the satellite run the hottest because of the relative position of the Earth and sun.

To protect the motor windings on the GOES-9 instruments, satellite controllers will perform daily pitch maneuvers from February 14 until February 28 between 0430Z and 0500Z (11:30 p.m. until midnight EST) and from 0630Z until 1230Z (1:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. EST) each day. GOES-9 images and soundings will not be available during those times during the two-week period. Coverage will be provided by GOES-8.

"By changing the spacecraft orientation and pointing the imager away from the sun periodically, we can reduce the maximum temperature swing, which we believe has a positive effect on prolonging the life of the instruments," said Kathy Kelly, manager of the Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was instrumental in designing the procedure.

GOES-9 overlooks the West Coast of North and South America and well out into the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii. GOES-8 overlooks the East Coast and out into the Atlantic Ocean. To minimize user impacts, the loss of GOES-9 coverage is mitigated by exclusive GOES-8 full disk transmissions from 0645Z to 1244Z (1:45 a.m. until 7:44 a.m. EST). GOES-8 full disk coverage extends from the central Atlantic Ocean through the Americas to the East Pacific. Following the daily GOES-9 data outage, routine or standard GOES-8 scheduling operations will resume at 1245Z (7:45 a.m. EST) each day.

GOES satellites provide forecasters detailed imagery of developing storm systems that lead to more accurate and timely weather and floods warnings and forecasts. NOAA is planning to launch its next GOES satellite in April 1997, with a redesigned motor to prevent overheating.

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