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New weather satellite to be launched June 26th (today)
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NASA
A Delta 4 medium rocket is set to launch the new GOES-O weather monitoring satellite for NASA and NOAA today (June 26th) at 5:14 p.m. CDT, weather and other conditions permitting.
The odds that the weather will cooperate are not great; NASA gives less than even money prospects of getting the launch off within the one-hour window available.
It will lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The satellite will be the latest in a long series of weather satellite improvements dating back to the 1960s, when the first satellites went into orbit. “GOES” Is an acronym for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite.
“Geostationary” means that it remains in place over the same spot all of the time. To do this, the satellite must be boosted into a very high orbit of some 22,300 miles. As a comparison, the space shuttle and ISS orbit just a couple hundred miles above the earth!
Two of many notable improvements are the ability for the satellite to receive a wide variety of data from earth monitoring stations, many of them automated. By setting alarm trigger values for thousands of different locations, critical conditions can be quickly spotted at any monitored point across the nation.
Improved resolution in certain wavelength of the radiative spectrum will allow for easier detection of cloud heights, cloud movement and volcanic ash clouds.
This new “bird” will also carry a larger fuel supply for longer life, and a variety of space sensors. These will keep tabs on solar emissions, which can at times severely communications and electric power generation on planet Earth.
Click here to view the launch beginning at 3pm Central time.
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