Thu, May 25, 2006
After a series of delays bumped its launch date by over a year,
on Wednesday the Geostationary Operational Environmental-N
satellite (GOES-N) lifted off aboard a Boeing Delta IV rocket from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. The rocket lifted off its pad
at Launch Complex 37 at 6:11 pm EDT.
GOES-N is the latest in a series of Earth monitoring satellites.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) provide
the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data
analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is
always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth.
This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on the
Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a
constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather
conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms, and
hurricanes.
NASA reports the multimission GOES series N-P is the next series
of satellites. This series will be a vital contributor to weather,
solar and space operations, and science. NASA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged
in a cooperative program to expand the existing GOES system with
the launch of the GOES N-P satellites.
Originally scheduled to launch last May, the GOES-N mission was
delayed due to various technical issues with the satellite and its
rocket. Winds at the tail end of Hurricane Wilma in 2005 also
conspired to delay the mission, as did a machinist's strike at
Boeing.
After GOES-N reaches its geosynchronous orbit of approximately
22,300 miles and a successful post-launch checkout is performed,
the satellite will be placed in an on-orbit storage mode where it
will be able to more rapidly replace a failure of any existing
operational GOES.
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