From approximately 22,236 miles in space, NOAA's newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - GOES-15 - took its 1st full visible image of the Earth on April 6, 2010 at 1:33 p.m. EDT.
High Resolution (Credit: NOAA/NASA/SSEC)
N.A.S.A. and NOAA's latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15, has successfully completed 5 months of on-orbit testing and has been accepted into service. The satellite has demonstrated operational readiness of its subsystems, spacecraft instruments and communications services. GOES-15 is the 3rd and final spacecraft in the GOES N-P Series of geostationary environmental weather satellites.
The GOES fleet help N.O.A.A. forecasters track life-threatening weather and solar activity that can impact the satellite-based electronics and communications industry. During the checkout period, GOES-15 delivered high-resolution images from space, including the 1st visible and infrared images of Earth taken by its imager instrument, and the 1st image of the sun taken by its solar X-ray imager instrument.
"NASA has delivered another exceptional environmental satellite to N.O.A.A. and the nation. We set the bar high and met our goals with the help of Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems, Lockheed Martin, ITT and United Launch Alliance," said Andre Dress, GOES Deputy Plan Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
N.O.A.A. operates 2 GOES operational satellites (GOES-13 in the east and GOES-11 in the west) that provide weather observations covering in excess of 50 percent of the Earth's surface. The GOES-15 spacecraft, designed and built by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, will be placed in an on-orbit storage location at 105 degrees west longitude should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust their fuel. It will share a parking space with GOES-14, currently in the same storage orbit. Both satellites can be made operational within 24 hours to replace an older satellite.
"With in excess of 35 million Americans living in hurricane-prone areas, we need the reliable, accurate data GOES provide," said Gary Davis, director of the Office of Systems Development at NOAA's Satellite and Information Service.
A six-minute view of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season as seen from space by GOES-12, formerly the East Coast GOES sentinel, is accessible online. The video highlights N.A.S.A. technology and N.O.A.A. satellite data.
N.O.A.A. manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all backing and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. N.A.S.A. Goddard procures and manages the design, development and launch of the satellites for N.O.A.A. on a cost reimbursable basis.
For more information about the GOES-15 mission and plan on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/goes-p
http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov
http://www.osd.noaa.gov/GOES/goes_p.htm
http://www.weather.gov
For information about N.A.S.A. and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Visit us on Facebook.
