Tag: NOAA
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Cape gets back into rocket business after Hurricane Matthew
The Atlas 5 first stage was transported to the Cape aboard a giant Antonov aircraft. Credit: 45th Space Wing CAPE CANAVERAL — Taking delivery of the Atlas 5 rocket that will boost an advanced weather observatory into space next month, United Launch Alliance and the Air Force are back at work following disruptions from Hurricane…
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Sophisticated new U.S. weather observatory being readied for launch
The GOES R weather satellite folded up for launch. Credit: Lockheed Martin CAPE CANAVERAL — On the cusp of advancing U.S. weather forecasting, a powerful new satellite was shipped from its Denver factory to the Cape today in preparation for launch in November. The first-of-its-kind observatory dubbed GOES R was flown aboard an Air Force…
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Delta 2 rocket being assembled at Vandenberg for penultimate launch
The step-by-step Delta 2 assembly process. Photos by NASA The next-to-last Delta 2 rocket is being stacked at its California launch site to take flight in January to put a civilian weather satellite into polar orbit. The first stage, interstage, nine strap-on boosters and second stage of the United Launch Alliance rocket are being pieced…
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New and improved space weather observatory goes live next month
Artist’s concept of the Deep Space Climate Observatory. Credit: NOAA NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory, a $340 million mission that spent more than a decade grounded in a Maryland warehouse, will begin warning forecasters of dangerous solar storms next month, giving notice of events that could disrupt air travel, radio communications, electrical grids and satellite…
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Environmental testing underway for JPSS 1 launching in January
The next American polar-orbiting weather satellite that will feed long-range forecasts and track environmental trends has slipped into space-like testing ahead of launch. The Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft No. 1 will be launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 20 at 1:47 a.m.…
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Jason 3 satellite begins surveying world’s oceans
Artist’s concept of the Jason 3 satellite mapping the ocean surface with its radar altimeter. Credit: NASA Two months after its foggy blastoff from California on a Falcon 9 rocket, a $364 million oceanography satellite has returned the first data from its radar altimeter mapping global sea levels, catching this year’s ongoing El Niño in the…
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Satellite launched to measure motions of the oceans
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10:42 a.m. PST (1:42 p.m. EST; 1842 GMT) Sunday. Credit: SpaceX A new satellite built to extend a 24-year series of joint U.S.-European ocean observatories climbed away from a foggy California launch pad and sailed into orbit more than 800 miles above Earth on Sunday aboard a SpaceX…
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Photos: Falcon 9 poised on hillside launch pad in California
The first Falcon 9 flight of 2016 is ready for takeoff Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and these photos show the rocket positioned on its launch mount overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The 224-foot-tall rocket will blast off at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at…
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Ideal weather predicted for Falcon 9 launch Sunday
Photo credit: SpaceX Meteorologists predict mostly sunny skies, mild temperatures and light winds Sunday for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast with a $364 million oceanography satellite for U.S. and European science institutions. The forecast is so favorable that U.S. Air Force meteorologists give a 100 percent chance of…
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Launch timeline for Falcon 9/Jason 3 mission
Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Jason 3 satellite, a joint project between European and U.S. weather agencies to monitor wave height and sea level in the world’s oceans. The 224-foot-tall rocket will lift off Sunday at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) from Vandenberg…