This image from the GOES-7 satellite shows Hurricane Andrew at its peak intensity on August 24, 1992 before making landfall near Homestead, FL.
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)
This week, the GOES-7 satellite, one of NOAA's earliest geostationary satellites, was moved into a higher orbit and retired from service. Launched in 1987, GOES-7 1st served as a critical weather satellite, capturing images of developing hurricanes and other severe storms that impacted the United States.
In 1999, when its Earth-observing instruments degraded past operational use, N.O.A.A. leased GOES-7 to the Pan-Pacific Education and Communication Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT) program, which used the satellite to provide communications for the Pacific islands.
PEACESAT, managed in part by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, allows doctors in the Hawaii and the continental U.S. to meet with Pacific Islanders through video teleconference consultations as a means of providing health services to remote areas.
"When the advanced geostationary satellites were ready to launch, N.O.A.A. decided to lease GOES-7 to PEACESAT," said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "The communications instruments were still in good shape, and we were happy PEACESAT could use it."
GOES-7 is the only satellite in the history of NOAA's geostationary plan to serve both as the GOES-East and GOES-West spacecraft in the course of normal operations. When its predecessor GOES-6 failed, GOES-7 was the sole geostationary spacecraft from 1989 to 1994. Engineers moved the spacecraft from a western position in the winter to cover Pacific storms into California and the northwest to an eastern position in the summer to cover east coast hurricanes. GOES-7 provided vital imagery of the deadly Hurricane Andrew as it tore through southern Florida in 1992.
On April 12, GOES-7 was "retired" from service through a final burn from its booster, which moved it approximately 186 miles (300 km) above its operational geostationary orbit to a "graveyard orbit", such that it will not interfere with other satellites. The final maneuver to adjust the spin rate of the spacecraft and deplete all remaining fuel happened at two a.m. EDT today. The communications packages were turned off then and the satellite powered down.
Currently, N.O.A.A. operates GOES-13 and GOES-15, which are providing continuous coverage of the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere. N.O.A.A. also has 2 other geostationary satellites in orbit - GOES-12, which provides data for meteorologists in South America, and GOES-14, which is in storage orbit as a ready replacement.
N.O.A.A. is planning the next generation of geostationary satellites, called GOES-R, with the 1st poised to launch in 2015. GOES-R is expected to in excess of double the clarity of today's GOES imagery and provide more atmospheric observations than current capabilities with more frequent images. In addition, data from GOES-R instruments will be used to create many different products N.O.A.A. meteorologists and others will use to monitor the atmosphere, land, ocean and the sun.
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