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ЦитироватьSophisticated new U.S. weather observatory being readied for launch          
 August 22, 2016 (http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/08/) Justin Ray (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/justin-sfn-ray/)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155080.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/factory.jpg)
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 C-5 transport aircraft from Lockheed Martin to the Kennedy Space Center to initiate its launch campaign.
Liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is planned for Nov. 4 at 5:40 p.m. EDT (2140 GMT) from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41. The daily launch window extends 120 minutes.
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R will orbit 22,300 miles above the equator in lockstep with the Americas to provide unprecedented new weather-forecast tools.
GOES R, plus three future sister-satellites, is a collaborative project between NASA — which ordered the spacecraft, instruments and launchers — and operator NOAA. Lockheed Martin built the craft.
"It will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth's western hemisphere, and also support space weather prediction," said Sandra Smalley, head of NASA's Joint Agency Satellite Division.
"It's the next generation (of GOES satellites) providing a major improvement in quality, quantity and timeliness of the data collected. Overall, it will provide visual and IR imagery, lightning mapping, space weather monitoring and solar imaging. It will accomplish all of this using six instruments."
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155083.jpg)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155082.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/goesR_art.jpg)
An artist's concept of the GOES R spacecraft. Credit: NOAA

The primary instrument — the Advanced Baseline Imager — will show the motion of clouds and weather systems in visible and infrared bands that television meteorologists use in newscasts. The instrument will monitor water vapor, measure land and sea surface temperature and depict rainfall rates.
It will produce real-time estimates of central pressure and maximum sustained winds for tracking the intensity of hurricanes, and measure the key ingredients of severe weather like winds, cloud growth and lightning to improve tornado warnings.
The ABI will collect three times more data at four times better resolution while providing more than five times faster coverage than current GOES satellites, NOAA says.
GOES R also carries the first Geostationary Lightning Mapper. It will use a high-speed camera to detect in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning over the Americas and surrounding ocean areas. GLM promises to increase the warning time for severe weather.
GOES R also has instruments to monitor the Sun, detect solar storm eruptions and alert when the space weather arrives at Earth. Such storms can impact communications, disrupt power grids, threaten the health of astronauts and harm satellites.
The Atlas 5 rockets that will launch GOES R — and GOES S in 2018 — will fly in the 541 configuration with a five-meter fairing, four solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155084.jpg) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155084.jpg)
An illustration of GOES R being deployed by Centaur. Credit: Lockheed Martin

A three-hour ascent featuring three burns by the Centaur will deliver the craft into a customized high-perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit of 3,600 by 22,000 miles at 12.9 degrees inclination. Five burns of the satellite's main engine will bring the craft to geostationary orbit within 8 days of launch.
"They are huge satellites. GOES R is getting ready to launch, so it's fully integrated, and GOES S is well along the way," said Smalley.
"GOES R has had some technical challenges, so (GOES) S has basically been used as a spares spacecraft for (GOES) R, but they've made great progress."
After touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility at 3:16 p.m. today, the satellite will be taken to the commercial Astrotech processing facility in Titusville this evening to be unboxed from its shipping container for the start of final testing, fueling and encapsulation.
"This milestone is a great achievement for the entire GOES-R team, who have worked tirelessly to get the spacecraft to Florida," said Greg Mandt, NOAA's GOES R system program director. "Moving forward, we are focused on preparing this highly advanced weather satellite for its historic launch in just a few short months."
GOES R will be renamed GOES 16 once it reaches geostationary orbit. Initially, controllers position the satellite at 89.5 degrees West longitude for an extensive year-long checkout and validation. It then awaits call-up to replace either the GOES West or GOES East operational observatories covering the U.S.
The GOES program dates back to 1975. Unlike today's three-axis stabilized satellites, the first GOES were spin-stabilized and viewed Earth only about ten percent of the time.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155081.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GOES.jpg)
All of the launches in the GOES satellite series are shown here aboard Delta and Atlas rockets. Photos by NASA/NOAA/ULA

The GOES R, S, T and U series is expected to sequentially extend geostationary weather satellite operations to 2036. Each satellite is capable of five years in-space storage and 10 years of use.
GOES T launches in 2019 and GOES U follows in 2024. Launch vehicles have not yet been assigned to those two spacecraft.
Currently, GOES 15 is the GOES West satellite at 135 degrees West longitude. It was launched as GOES P atop a Delta 4 rocket in 2010. GOES 13 — launched as GOES N in 2006 — is the GOES East satellite at 75 degrees West. The GOES 14 launched in 2009 as GOES O serves as the in-space spare, ready to be pressed into service at a moment's notice.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean Подлинная учетная запись ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)
NOAA's GOES-R satellite has arrived at KSC. Launch from Cape Canaveral on Atlas V targeted for Nov. 4.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/158711.jpg)
  12:34 - 22 авг. 2016 г.  

ЦитироватьThis new weather satellite is a game changer — if it can survive the journey to launch
 By Angela Fritz (http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/angela-fritz) August 25 at 9:06 AM
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/141939.webp)
 NOAA's new GOES-R satellite is offloaded fr om a U.S. Air Force C-5 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 22. The satellite is scheduled for launch on Nov. 4. (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
 
TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The lid on a white, RV-size box is lifted off with painstaking care to prevent damaging the multimillion-dollar, next-generation weather satellite housed inside. Two dozen engineers and technicians in white jumpsuits surround the container in a 10-story airlock.
I watch as the specialists execute their specific jobs. One controls the crane that raises the lid inch-by-inch; another is carrying a molecular air sampler. Two attach ropes to the lid to guide it.
They are meticulous. Any disturbance — a misplaced step, exposure to the wrong air molecules, an uncontrollable sneeze — has the potential to leave the United States, and the rest of the world for that matter, without critical weather observations that save lives.
If it successfully launches in November, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite will monitor things like hurricanes and blizzards fr om space with higher resolution than any other U.S. satellite of its kind. It will be a game-changer for weather forecasting.
"Up. Up. Up," says the crane operator, breaking the otherwise silent focus of the room.
The lid rises like a shoe box to reveal the satellite — called GOES-R — on its side and mounted to the container base. Once all of the white-clad specialists are certain the bottom of the lid has cleared the top of the satellite, the operator shifts the crane to the left.
"Going south," he announces. With ropes attached to each corner, they guide the lid to the opposite side of the airlock.
Their first task is complete, but there are many more to come, and the stakes could not be higher.
 

***

The satellite's journey began 24 hours earlier in Denver. Mounted on a specialized semi-truck, it was loaded into the cargo hold of a U.S. Air Force C5-M Galaxy through the nose of the aircraft.
The dark morning was chilly, but the tarmac at Buckley Air Force Base warmed up quickly as the sun rose above the horizon. It was early, but the energy was palpable.
I arrived with two dozen Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians, safety specialists and quality assurance experts at 4:45 a.m., to transport NOAA's next major weather satellite to Kennedy Space Center. It's the project this team has been tirelessly working on for more than two years, and they want to see it fly.
Their final product is a towering monument of technology. GOES-R is the size of a small school bus. It weighs about 6,300 pounds. Transporting the behemoth is a challenge, but it needs to get to Florida. It is scheduled to be launched into space on Nov. 4.
Lockheed secured GOES-R in a box the size of an RV. Super-pure air circulated through the storage container. The satellite's air is purer than what scuba divers breathe. The spacecraft cannot come in contact with any Earthly substance now; the touch of a bare fingertip could contaminate it.
The mobile clean room was hoisted onto Lockheed's custom-built tractor-trailer named Eagle, designed specifically for hauling spacecraft. It carries the gas needed to maintain pure air in the container. The hydraulics on Eagle keep the container level, even when the truck is driving on an incline — say, when it is being loaded onto a C-5.
The fit was snug — we had to walk over tie-down chains and scurry across ledges to get from the front of the plane to the back — but the entire semi-truck and massive pieces of mounting equipment were strapped down for the ride.
The C-5M Galaxy is a hulking aircraft. The Air Force has used its C-5 fleet for heavy-duty hauling since 1969. Sometimes the planes transport spacecraft; other times they move supplies to and from the Middle East.
"It doesn't matter if it's peacetime or wartime, we stay busy," our pilot, Capt. Paul Jaskewicz, told me as he listened to air traffic control in the background. We crossed into Memphis airspace and were asked to adjust altitude. A small twist of a knob and it was done.
Jaskewicz has a master's degree in aeronautical science and has been in the U.S. Air Force since 2006. We chatted about his career, and he told me he hopes to work for a commercial airline when his service is complete. Piloting a C-5 and instructing midair refueling courses should qualify him.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/141933.jpg)
 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
 
Jaskewicz said this mission was on the heavy side. At 31,000 feet, we were hauling 130,000 pounds of semi-truck, satellite and equipment, which brought the total aircraft weight to 740,000 pounds.
I heard another crew member from the passenger cabin through my headset. Lockheed Martin had a request — the air coming out of the ducts in the cargo hold was too hot. They needed to turn the temperature down.
To get to the passenger cabin, we had to climb a precariously steep ladder, which made me reevaluate some of the heavier items I crammed into my backpack. It was dark and there were only two windows, which was fine by these passengers who had a 3 a.m. wake-up call.
Airmen in green flight suits served as flight attendants. We didn't anticipate needing life jackets, one airman assured us, but this is how to inflate them. The seat belts are operated like so, he demonstrated. "It's pretty much the same as a commercial aircraft."
Pretty much, except for the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that wafted down the aisle halfway through the flight, and the multimillion-dollar spacecraft strapped down under our feet.
 

***

Meteorologists have been waiting anxiously for GOES-R since late 2007, when NOAA began to award contracts for the project. The three satellites that currently monitor U.S. weather are reaching the end of their life span. Should one of these satellites fail, NOAA would be without a backup. If two fail, the United States would be missing critical weather data.
The GOES-R satellite has six instruments, two of which are weather-related. The Advanced Baseline Imager, developed by Harris Corp., is the "camera" that looks down on Earth. The pictures it sends back will be clearer and more detailed than what's created by the current satellites.
The ABI can scan half the Earth — or the "full disk" — in five minutes. If forecasters want to home in on an area of severe weather, it can scan that region every 30 seconds. Weather radars can't even scan faster than six minutes.
The other weather instrument, the Global Lightning Mapper, will continuously track and transmit all lightning strikes across North America and its surrounding oceans. Developed by Lockheed, it can detect the changes in light on Earth and thus the rate and intensity of lightning in thunderstorms and hurricanes.
Sudden increases in lightning activity within thunderstorms — which the lightning mapper will detect — often signal that they are becoming severe and violent.
All of the data from these instruments will be fed into models to improve weather forecasts. It could extend the lead time of tornado warnings and predict the location of flash flooding before it begins.
In other words, these instruments will save more lives.
 

***

Three hours after takeoff from Buckley, we landed at Kennedy Space Center on the same runway the Space Shuttles used until the program was discontinued in 2011. The C-5 crawled to a stop a few acres from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, which was constructed in 1966 to build the Saturn series of rockets. They would later launch the Apollo missions into space.
It would be hard not to consider, at least for a moment, the magnitude of the events that unfolded here over the decades. NASA put men on the moon.
The Kennedy tarmac was blazing hot. It was 95 degrees and the humidity was oppressive. We were wearing Day-Glo polyester safety vests. They're visible from a mile away, but do nothing for personal ventilation. The Air Force crew were sweating through their full green jumpsuits.
The nose of the C-5 opened like the hood of a car to reveal the cargo hold. The ramp lowered to the ground and the team carefully offloaded some of the equipment. Then it was time for GOES-R.
The truck named Eagle was painstakingly backed into the cargo bay in Denver, which made the afternoon's task marginally easier. All they needed to do was drive Eagle down a ramp and out of the aircraft — how hard could it possibly be?
The operation began around 5 p.m. and didn't conclude until 7 p.m. For two hours, we baked in the Florida sun while directing GOES-R onto the tarmac. When it was over, the truck had moved no more than 200 feet.
Later in the evening, Eagle carried GOES-R to Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, wh ere it was unloaded into the last building it will ever be in before it is launched.
 

***

Amanda Kindblad downed a Red Bull on her way to the clean room second shift. "I also had coffee this morning," the 30-year-old from Valencia, Calif., assures me.
The only way I can tell her apart from everyone else in the room is her strikingly light gray eyes — the sole feature visible through her clean-room suit.
Kindblad is a senior specialist technician for Lockheed. She was my neighbor on the early-morning flight from Denver the day before. She will live in Florida for three months while they prep and test.
We're sitting across from one another with a dividing rope between us. We're both wearing white clean suits, but Kindblad's is more technical and it covers her face. That's why she's sitting on the satellite side of the divider and I'm not.
"I love our launches, even though you're far away from home for a while," she tells me. "It's like a little family. I see these guys more than my own family."
It's Kindblad's third launch campaign. Until now, she has mainly worked on commercial military communications and satellites. She has an airframe and power plant license, which the FAA requires for anyone performing aircraft maintenance. Hired right out of college, she has been with Lockheed for eight years.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/141942.webp)
 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
 
"I'm what's known as a blanket lady," Kindblad says casually. "There's only two of us."
She points to the upright satellite, which is covered in a protective material that looks a lot like tinfoil. "You see how everything on the outside is covered?" she asks. "That's one of my specialties. They call them 'garbage bags,' but it's MLI — multi-layer insulation."
It's the last but possibly the most important thing that goes on the satellite. It protects the instruments from the harmful radiation of space. "That's the reason they wanted me on this project, for that work," Kindblad tells me. She loves her job.
Behind her, I watch white figures crawl all around the spacecraft to check and double-check every bolt before moving on to the next step. My imagination runs away with visions of a slip or a dropped wrench. After all, these white figures are only human.
"Everyone has to be very close to the spacecraft for the things that we're doing," Jeffrey Coyne says. He's the assembly, test and launch operations manager for GOES-R. "You have to make sure that you know wh ere every part of you is."
He chuckles at the mildly irritated rumblings among our non-Lockheed group about the progress speed. "Yeah, it doesn't move fast here," Coyne says, smiling. "But that's intentional."
The strict, step-by-step, checked and rechecked process exists for a good reason — enormously expensive mishaps can occur without it. Lockheed faced this reality in 2003 when a NOAA satellite slid off its mount and fell to the floor as engineers attempted to move it into the vertical position.
A NASA investigation concluded that the accident happened because a technician removed the 24 bolts that secured the satellite to the mounting plate without logging the action, and the technicians who executed the adjustment failed to check that the bolts were in place.
The mishap severely damaged the spacecraft and cost the project a significant delay and $135 million — a price shared by Lockheed Martin and NOAA.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/141936.webp)
 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
 
In the Astrotech airlock, GOES-R program manager Tim Gasparrini is cautiously confident.
"We won't know until we run through inspection and do all the electrical testing if the spacecraft made it safely," Gasparrini admits when I ask him if he thinks everything went well. A fleeting moment of hesitation passes. "But you know, it's designed to, so we don't have any worries," he added.
GOES-R has months of testing ahead of it in preparation for the Nov. 4 launch. The Lockheed team will clean the instruments and check that the spacecraft itself is in good health — its engine and thrusters need to get the satellite into orbit once it reaches space.
Lockheed Martin, Harris and the other companies and organizations that developed components on GOES-R are in the process of creating three more satellites just like it. To complete the next-generation satellite constellation, GOES-S and GOES-T are slated for launch in 2018 and 2019, respectively. GOES-U is expected to launch in 2024.
If the spacecraft clears its tests and the November launch is successful, GOES-R will be transmitting the best satellite data NOAA has ever had by late 2017.
Better weather forecasts are just around the corner.
 
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 (Pat Corkery/Lockheed Martin)
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 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
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 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
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 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
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 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
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 (Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)
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 (Lockheed Martin)

ЦитироватьNASA Kennedy / KSC ‏@NASAKennedy  (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy) 4 minutes ago (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/780781660543549440)

GOES-R will provide @NOAASatellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites) advanced imaging with increased spatial resolution and faster coverage for more accurate forecasts.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)  4 окт. (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/783349856832282624)  
At Astrotech in Titusville, teams building tent over NOAA's GOES-R satellite as extra protection against approaching #hurricaneMatthew (https://twitter.com/hashtag/hurricaneMatthew?src=hash).
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/158819.jpg)

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/784478758145232896)  
GOES-R spacecraft weathered storm well at Astrotech in T'ville, including switch to emergency generator after loss of power in Building 9.

  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/784477508515336192)  
GOES-R launch to slip from Nov. 4 to date TBD. Not due to hurricane damage, but weather delaying delivery of mission's Atlas booster.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)  16 ч16 часов назад (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/785242385924009985)  
ULA's Atlas V booster that will launch NOAA's GOES-R weather satellite is being flown in to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station tonight.

ЦитироватьOct 18, 2016
NOAA continues to work with its partners -- NASA, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing -- to assess the infrastructure and facilities necessary for GOES-R launch following Hurricane Matthew. Additional assessments are underway to fully understand the impact the storm had on local facilities. Before Hurricane Matthew, the launch date was set for November 4, 2016.
Once Matthew passed, the launch team began an initial assessment of the launch infrastructure and determined that a move of the launch date is needed based on the storm's impacts. ULA, for planning purposes, has requested a new range date of no earlier than November 16, pending approval from the 45th Space Wing. Throughout the storm, the GOES-R spacecraft remained safe inside Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, Fla. NOAA will provide an update as new details become available.

ЦитироватьJames Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean) · 1 minute ago (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/790603378611068928)

GOES-R mission's Atlas booster went vertical today at LC41. SRBs and Centaur to follow this week. Launch scheduled for 4:42pm ET Nov. 16.

ЦитироватьGOES-R weather satellite's ride to space being stacked at Cape Canaveral
 October 24, 2016 (http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/10/) Justin Ray (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/justin-sfn-ray/)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155139.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/lvos.jpg)
File photo of Atlas 5 first stage being stacked. Credit: NASA-KSC
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — Technicians began the painstaking work of assembling a powerful Atlas 5 rocket today, a launcher that will deploy an advanced satellite to substantially improve U.S. weather forecasting.
The United Launch Alliance vehicle is targeted for liftoff no sooner than Nov. 16 at 4:42 p.m. EST (2142 GMT). The daily launch window extends 120 minutes.
Representing a major upgrade to the resolution and speed at which weather observations are collected for meteorologists, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R, or GOES-R, is the first in a four-spacecraft series developed through an $11 bilion program to ensure U.S. weather monitoring into the 2030s.
This morning at Cape Canaveral's Vertical Integration Facility, adjacent to the Complex 41 pad, the Atlas 5 first stage was erected onto the mobile launch platform to begin the rocket's stacking campaign.
The 107-foot-long bronze-colored stage is equipped with the dual-nozzled RD-180 main engine, which burns kerosene fuel and liquid oxygen during the initial four minutes of launch.
The four solid-propellant boosters will attached over the next four days, each 66 feet long and weighing 103,000 pounds.
The Centaur upper stage, with its single RL10 cryogenic engine that burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, will be hoisted into place Saturday. The stage comes to the VIF pre-integrated with the interstage adapter and lower sections of the bulbous nose cone that encloses the Centaur during atmospheric flight, all combined to stand over 45 feet tall.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155142.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/OVI.jpg)
File photo shows the Centaur, interstage and base of fairing. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Спойлер

The encapsulated payload will be attached to the rocket early next month.
The rocket is known as the 541 version of the Atlas 5, and it will weigh 1.2 million pounds at liftoff and produce 2.4 million pounds of thrust at launch.
The mission, featuring three burns by the Centaur, will deliver the 11,500-pound GOES-R weather satellite into a customized high-perigee, lower-inclination geosynchronous transfer orbit for NASA and NOAA.
Release from the launcher occurs three-and-a-half hours after liftoff.
The Lockheed Martin-built satellite then assumes responsibility to achieve a circular geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth by firing its own main engine five times during the first two weeks of on-orbit operations.
Officials are not worried about the engine problems that impacted Lockheed Martin's MUOS 5 mobile communications satellite built for the Navy or Boeing's Intelsat 33e commercial spacecraft earlier this summer.
The GOES-R spacecraft has full redundancy to route the main engine's fuel supply to alternate, smaller thrusters to perform orbiting raising maneuvers. Up to 18 burns would be needed and arrival in geosynchronous orbit would be delayed by two weeks, but the craft's mission would not be adversely harmed by a main engine glitch.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155138.jpg) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155138.jpg)
An artist's concept of GOES-R firing its main engine. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Scientists will spend six months checking out the GOES-R satellite and then another six months fine-tuning the data from the instruments before the new craft will be ready for use.
"Without a doubt, GOES-R will revolutionize weather forecasting as we know it. For weather forecasters, GOES-R is like going from black and white television to super high definition TV, and for the American public GOES-R will mean faster, more accurate weather forecasting and warning," said Stephen Volz, assistant NOAA administrator for its Satellite and Information Service.
"This means more lives saved. It means more time and better environmental intelligence for local officials who have to decide whether to evacuate a community ahead of an approaching hurricane."
NASA oversaw construction of the satellite and is managing its launch. NOAA will operate the craft, which will be renamed GOES-16.
GOES-R's main instrument — the Advanced Baseline Imager — will acquire vivid images of clouds and storms with more embedded data at higher clarity and much faster rates than current weather satellites. It can focus on specific targets like thunderstorms or a hurricane to collect fresh imagery every 30 seconds.
The craft also carries the first-ever Geostationary Lightning Mapper to observe not only cloud-to-ground strikes but also cloud-to-cloud lightning both day and night across the Western Hemisphere to improve warnings of severe weather.
Other onboard instruments will monitor the sun and solar storms that can impact communications, navigation and power systems on Earth through space weather.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155136.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/GOESR_poster.jpg)
The GOES-R mission poster. Credit: United Launch Alliance

"Americans should take pride in that our multi-billion-dollar investment in the GOES-R represents not only our commitment to the safety and well-being of our citizens, but it benefits our neighbors throughout the Western Hemisphere and especially those in Latin America," Volz said.
"Since the early 1970s, NOAA has led the world in providing high-quality global weather data on a full and open data basis, and this is the continuation of that."
NOAA currently operates three GOES satellites — all from the previous generation that launched aboard Delta 4 rockets from 2006 through 2010 — to cover the continental U.S. and all the entire Western Hemisphere. Two craft serve as the primary GOES-East and GOES-West satellites and one is held in storage as an on-orbit spare.
Which position GOES-R will fill — the eastern or western orbital slots — has not been determined.
GOES-S will be launched in early 2018, followed by GOES-T in 2019 and GOES-U in 2024.

[свернуть]

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)  15 ч.15 часов назад (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/790603378611068928)
GOES-R mission's Atlas booster went vertical today at LC41. SRBs and Centaur to follow this week. Launch scheduled for 4:42pm ET Nov. 16.

ЦитироватьNovember 16 Approved as New Launch Date
 Oct 25, 2016  

NOAA continues to work with its partners -- NASA, ULA, and the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing – preparing for the launch of the GOES-R spacecraft. The new launch date of November 16th has been approved by the 45th Space Wing and the mission team continues to make good progress recovering from the Hurricane Matthew impacts.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67530.jpg) Spaceflight Now ‏@SpaceflightNow  (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow)  24 сек.25 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/792102570571534337)  
PHOTOS: New U.S. weather observatory #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) encapsulated for launch aboard Atlas 5 rocket http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/10/28/photos-new-u-s-weather-observatory-buttoned-up-for-launch/ ... (https://t.co/EckWR8uIdj)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/158959.jpg)

ЦитироватьPhotos: New U.S. weather observatory buttoned up for launch
 October 28, 2016 (http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/10/) Justin Ray (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/justin-sfn-ray/)
 
United Launch Alliance encapsulated the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R, GOES-R, on Oct. 21 at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. GOES-R will be the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES satellites. The spacecraft is to launch aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket on Nov. 16.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155122.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/01.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Charles Babir

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155123.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/02.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155124.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/03.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155125.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/04.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155126.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/05.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155127.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/06.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155128.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/07-1.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155129.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/08.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155130.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/09.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155131.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/10.jpg)
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg) Chris B - NSF ‏@NASASpaceflight  (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight)  1 ч.1 час назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/794271003740438528)  
Atlas V launch with GOES-R has been postponed. No new date yet: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=37743.msg1606247#msg1606247 ... (https://t.co/lxHinVa6FV) - ULA Statement:
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159106.jpg)

ЦитироватьNov. 19 • Atlas 5 • GOES-R
Launch window: 2142-2342 GMT (4:42-6:42 p.m. EST)
 Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, designated AV-069, will launch GOES-R, the first next-generation geostationary weather satellite for NASA and NOAA. GOES-R will orbit 22,300 miles above the equator to monitor weather conditions across the United States. The rocket will fly in the 541 vehicle configuration with a five-meter fairing, four solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from March 11. Moved forward from Oct. 14. Delayed from Oct. 13, Nov. 4 and Nov. 16. [Nov. 4]

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185659.jpg) James Dean ‏@flatoday_jdean  (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean)  2 ч2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/796370462112698368)
GOES-R weather satellite overnight rolled to Launch Complex 41, has been lifted atop Atlas V ahead of Nov. 19 launch from Cape Canaveral.

ЦитироватьAdvanced weather bird mounted atop Atlas 5 rocket for launch into space             
 November 9, 2016 (http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/11/) Justin Ray (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/justin-sfn-ray/)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155164.jpg) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155164.jpg)
File photo of satellite in Atlas 5 rocket payload in 5-meter fairing being hoisted. Credit NASA-KSC

CAPE CANAVERAL — The opening volley in the transformation of U.S. weather forecasting was mounted atop its ride to space today for the planned Nov. 19 launch that begins a $11 billion upgrade in the nation's meteorology capability.
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R, or GOES-R, was hoisted high atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket this morning at the vehicle's Cape Canaveral vertical assembly building.
At 11,500 pounds and equipped with advanced sensors, it is the heaviest and most sophisticated U.S. weather satellite in history, continuing a line of 16 previous GOES craft launched since 1975.
"Space-based lightning detection and advanced imagery are among the new tools, which will help forecasters better monitor storm development and deliver more precise, timely and accurate watches and warnings," said NOAA's National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini.
"With GOES-R, the National Weather Service will have unprecedented new capabilities that allow for a wide range of forecast improvements."
The heart of the spacecraft is the new imager that will produce substantially more embedded data on clouds and storms at higher resolution in faster refresh times than ever before. Hurricanes, for example, will be tracked at 30-second intervals.
The craft also features the first-of-its-kind lightning mapper that will help in forecasting the intensity of storms, taking 200 images per second to observe cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground strikes.
"NOAA will now operate the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to help forecast weather on Earth," said Stephen Volz, assistant NOAA administrator for its Satellite and Information Service.
Lockheed Martin built the GOES-R satellite, which is the first in a series of four observatories that will ensure U.S. weather monitoring into the 2030s.
Getting the GOES-R craft 22,300 miles above the Earth to begin its mission starts with liftoff atop the Atlas 5 rocket on Nov. 19. A one-hour launch window at Cape Canaveral opens at 5:42 p.m. EST (2242 GMT).
Should the liftoff slip to Nov. 20 for some reason, a two-hour window opening at 4:42 p.m. EST (2142 GMT) will be available. The shortened Nov. 19 window is due to the FAA's Holiday Airspace Release Program constraints.
Fitted with four strap-on solid rocket boosters for added power, the rocket will perform a series of complex maneuvers to deliver the satellite into a customized high-perigee, lower-inclination geosynchronous transfer orbit dropoff point three-and-a-half hours after launch.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155170.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/goesr_size.jpg)
An artist's concept of GOES-R and man for size comparison. Credit: NASA/NOAA

Once at its destination in geostationary orbit within two weeks, at the altitude that matches Earth's rotation to stay in continuous lockstep with the Western Hemisphere, the satellite will begin a year-long checkout and demonstration of its new capabilities.
Assembly of the Atlas 5 rocket began on Monday, Oct. 24 by erecting the first stage on its mobile launch platform. The rest of the week was spent attaching the solid-fuel boosters.
The Centaur upper stage, which will fire three separate times during launch to shape the payload's orbit, was installed on Monday, Oct. 31.
Following initial testing last week, approval was given to bring the encapsulated satellite to Cape Canaveral's Vertical Integration Facility from the commercial Astrotech payload processing facility in nearby Titusville early this morning.
An overhead, heavy-duty crane lifted the craft through the doorway and positioned it atop the Centaur for mating.
The completed rocket, standing 197 feet tall, will be moved to the Complex 41 launch pad the morning of Friday, Nov. 18 to begin final pre-flight preparations. The RP-1 kerosene fuel gets loaded into the first stage that afternoon.
The launch countdown on Nov. 19 will last about seven hours, with cryogenic fueling operations starting about two hours before liftoff.
NASA's Launch Services Program is managing the launch, and the space agency was responsible for the design and construction of the GOES-R satellite series through its partnership with NOAA.
It will be the 67th Atlas 5 rocket flight and the milestone-achieving 100th for an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. The nation created the EELV program to carry out critical launches like GOES-R.
"This remarkable spacecraft and the instruments it holds embody what NOAA and the aviation, aerospace, and private weather enterprises have been conceptualizing for years," said NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, a former astronaut and first American woman to walk in space.
"GOES-R will serve as the vital foundation for the Weather-Ready Nation we are building. Not only will its data help forecasters increase our watch and warning times, but will help our communities and businesses build smarter, stay safer, and remain resilient to global change."

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185344.jpg) NASA_LSP ‏@NASA_LSP  (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP)  5 ч.5 часов назад (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP/status/796383715341414400)  
The @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) 1st stage is lifted to the vertical position at Launch Complex 41 for #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) launch aboard the rocket in November.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159026.jpg)

ЦитироватьOctober 31, 2016 // The United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur second stage has been mated to the first stage in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) will launch aboard the Atlas V rocket in November.

ЦитироватьEnclosed in its payload fairing, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) is mated to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur upper stage in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

ЦитироватьСША в субботу запустят "революционный" метеорологический спутник GOES-R
22:37 17.11.2016
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/133307.jpg)
© Fotolia/ Elenarts (http://www.fotolia.com/)
 
ВАШИНГТОН, 17 ноя — РИА Новости. США в субботу, 19 ноября планируют осуществить запуск спутника GOES-R, который "произведет революцию" в прогнозировании погоды, сообщил на брифинге в четверг помощник руководителя Национального управления по проблемам океана и атмосферы США (NOAA) Стив Волтц.
"Это (запуск спутника) изменит правила в прогнозировании погоды на многие годы вперед. Без сомнения, он произведет революцию в прогнозировании погоды", — сказал Вотц. NOAA осуществляет запуск в сотрудничестве с НАСА.
 Спутник будет запущен в 01:42 мск в воскресенье (15:42 в субботу по времени Восточного побережья США) с космодрома на мысе Канаверал во Флориде на ракете-носителе Atlas V.
Как сообщил на пресс-конференции представитель United Launch Alliance, которой принадлежит ракета, незначительные технические проблемы с Atlas V, из-за которых переносилось время старта, устранены и компания уверена в готовности ракеты к успешному старту. Прогноз погоды на день старта благоприятный.
После старта аппарат займет свое место на геостационарной орбите в созвездии спутников GOES, он станет 16-м с момента запуска первого из них в 1965 году.
Ожидается, что первую информацию в тестовом режиме спутник начнет передавать через два-три месяца после запуска. Однако его полноценная работа, начнется не раньше, чем через полгода после запуска, а в течение года будет принято решение о том, наблюдение за каким именно районом будет вести аппарат.
В США миссию GOES-R называют исторической. Спутник, который станет новейшим и самым мощным в сравнении со своими предшественниками серии GOES, оснащен шестью новыми инструментами, передаваемые им снимки будут более высокого разрешения и передача информации будет осуществляться в режиме реального времени.
"Это как перейти от черно-белого телевидения к цветной картинке высокого разрешения", — сообщил представитель управления.
По словам Стива Волтца, информация со спутника будет иметь критическое значение для спасения жизней, в том числе при необходимости оперативного прогнозирования во время приближения ураганов.
Известно, что часть инструментов зонда будет обращена к Солнцу для получения информации о солнечной погоде, которая оказывает влияние на ситуацию на земле.
В настоящее время на орбите работают три спутника GOES: зона их покрытия включает США, страны Латинской Америки, акваторию Тихого и Атлантического океана, юг Канады. В NOAA заверили, что все страны зона покрытия спутника, которая ограничена Западным полушарием, будут иметь доступ к поступающей с него.
До 2036 года США планируют осуществить запуск четырех идентичных спутников серии GOES: GOES-R GOES-S, GOES-T, GOES-U. Стоимость одного спутника составляет около 500 миллионов долларов, расчетное время работы каждого аппарата — десять лет.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185790.jpg) Cosmic Carol ‏@Cosmic_Carol  (https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Carol)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Carol/status/799694753860382720)
The #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) configuration means a 5m diameter faring, 4 SRBs and 1 centaur engine. #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) #NASASocial (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NASASocial?src=hash)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000743578839/631fbd19c907222b8abaab9a16fc34e0_bigger.jpeg) Rick Ambrose ‏@RickAmbroseSSC  (https://twitter.com/RickAmbroseSSC)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/RickAmbroseSSC/status/799694913956782080)  
.@NOAASatellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) weather satellite rolls out for tomorrow's launch. #CountdownToLaunch (https://twitter.com/hashtag/CountdownToLaunch?src=hash)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159158.jpg)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799695041744748544)  
ULA's Amanda Kuker: The #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) 541 with #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) will generate approx 2.25 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799693886314737664)  
.@NASA_LSP (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP) finds the right rocket to launch NASA's missions #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185977.jpg) Carl Jones ‏@northflwx  (https://twitter.com/northflwx)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/northflwx/status/799692977895411712)  
Geostationary satellites = great com satellites. GOES-R will be used for tsunami detection, sea rescue beacons, met data distribution #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185494.jpg) Gary Napier ‏@garynapier  (https://twitter.com/garynapier)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/garynapier/status/799692115978559488)     Press Site  (https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A07d9c9cc38488002)  
Calvin Craig of @LockheedMartin (https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin) says #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) sat has 30,000 points of telemetry.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159157.jpg)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185893.jpg) Jason Major ‏@JPMajor  (https://twitter.com/JPMajor)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/JPMajor/status/799692418996006912)  
Fact: #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) will also feature search and rescue band communication, so it can directly help locate people lost on land or at sea.
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185918.png) Rob Drysdale ‏@projmgr  (https://twitter.com/projmgr)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/projmgr/status/799692633727647744)
.@LockheedMartin (https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin) built the #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) satellite for @NOAASatellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  2 ч.2 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799692445403533312)  
Fr om @LockheedMartin (https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin): Approx 250 people are rescued at sea thanks to the #GOES (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOES?src=hash) satellites. Space saves lives! #GOES (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOES?src=hash) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185979.jpg) Nicholas Stewart ‏@NickStewartKHQA  (https://twitter.com/NickStewartKHQA)  5 ч.5 часов назад (https://twitter.com/NickStewartKHQA/status/799647990457704448)     Florida, USA  (https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A4ec01c9dbc693497)  
The rocket leaving the VIF (Vehicle Integration Facility. @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) tells me the whole platform is on rails. Takes 45mins @KHQA (https://twitter.com/KHQA) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185929.jpg) Cheryl Nelson ‏@CherylNelsonTV  (https://twitter.com/CherylNelsonTV)  5 ч.5 часов назад (https://twitter.com/CherylNelsonTV/status/799651181421207552)  
L-1 for #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) at @NASAKennedy (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy)! Interview with Amanda Kuker with @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) @WTKR3 (https://twitter.com/WTKR3) #CoastLive (https://twitter.com/hashtag/CoastLive?src=hash)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159153.jpg)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799690409647607808)  
ULA Ретвитнул(а) Eileen Drake
Our hand's up!! (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125513.png)
ULA добавил(а),

Цитировать  (https://twitter.com/DrakeEileen/status/799661964116914176)  
 Eileen Drake  @DrakeEileen  
Who's ready for a launch tomorrow? @AerojetRdyne @ULALaunch #GOESR

  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185367.png) Lockheed Martin ‏@LockheedMartin  (https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin/status/799684996608888832)  
.@ULALaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) rolls @NOAASatellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) to the launch pad. #Wx (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wx?src=hash) looks good for launch! #GOESRSocial (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESRSocial?src=hash)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159156.jpg)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799685755207610369)  
The #GOES (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOES?src=hash) constellation has existed for more than 40 years. All operational sats have launched on ULA or heritage rockets. #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799685188405952512)  
.@NASA (https://twitter.com/NASA)'s Thomas Zurbuchen: this new gen of satellites is built for an age when we're used to carrying the wx forecast in our pocket #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185339.jpg) NASA ‏@NASA  (https://twitter.com/NASA)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/NASA/status/799682721366872064)  
LIVE: Hear from #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) experts on how this weather satellite will revolutionize hurricane forecasting: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv  (https://t.co/KX5g7yYnYG) Q? #askGOES (https://twitter.com/hashtag/askGOES?src=hash)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  3 ч.3 часа назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799681959953891328)  
ULA Ретвитнул(а) KSC Visitor Complex
The @45thSpaceWing (https://twitter.com/45thSpaceWing) is a critical partner for mission success!
ULA добавил(а),

Цитировать  (https://twitter.com/ExploreSpaceKSC/status/799662672836861953)  
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159146.jpg)  
 KSC Visitor Complex  @ExploreSpaceKSC  
For rocket launches, the 45th Weather Squadron monitors the most weather instrument saturated area on the planet. #GOESR #NASASocial

  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185527.jpg) NASA Kennedy / KSC ‏@NASAKennedy  (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy)  4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/799664465428054016)  
The #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) Social group is given a tour of the 45th Weather Squadron. This is wh ere the weather is given a 'GO' or 'NO GO' for launch.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159147.jpg)
 
  ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185344.jpg) NASA_LSP ‏@NASA_LSP  (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP)  6 ч.6 часов назад (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP/status/799643621859491840)  
Eric Anderson providing the #GOESRSocial (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESRSocial?src=hash) group a tour of Hanger AE.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159150.jpg)

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) 5 ч.5 часов назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799650576443338756)
The #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) with #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) rolling to the launch pad at SLC-41 as we prepare for Nov. 19 launch!
 NASA_LSP (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP), NASA Kennedy / KSC (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy), NOAA Satellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites) и Lockheed Martin (https://twitter.com/LockheedMartin)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159152.jpg)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159151.jpg)
 
 ULA ретвитнул(а) (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185570.jpg) KSC Visitor Complex ‏@ExploreSpaceKSC  (https://twitter.com/ExploreSpaceKSC) 6 ч.6 часов назад (https://twitter.com/ExploreSpaceKSC/status/799636157692858368)  Florida, USA  (https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A4ec01c9dbc693497)
Learning about launches in the CCAFS Mission Director's Center at Hangar AE. #NASASocial (https://twitter.com/hashtag/NASASocial?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 NASA_LSP (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP) и 45th Space Wing (https://twitter.com/45thSpaceWing)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159148.jpg)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) 7 ч.7 часов назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/799625481314152448)  
Getting ready to roll! #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159154.jpg)

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67530.jpg) Spaceflight Now ‏@SpaceflightNow  (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow)  6 ч6 часов назад (https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/799642135054073860)  
ROLLOUT underway at Cape Canaveral to move Atlas 5 from assembly building to Complex 41 pad for tomorrow's #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) launch (file pic)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159149.jpg)

ЦитироватьHere's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:

[/li]
• The 649th launch for Atlas program since 1957
• The 354th Atlas launch from Cape Canaveral
• The 238th mission of a Centaur upper stage
• The 215th use of Centaur by an Atlas rocket
• The 474th production RL10 engine to be launched
• The 15th RL10C-1 engine launched
• The 73rd flight of an RD-180 main engine
• The 83-84-85-86th AJ-60 solid rocket booster flown
• The 67th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
• The 14th NASA use of Atlas 5
• The 55th launch of an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral
• The 7th Atlas 5 launch of 2016
• The 100th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
• The 113rd United Launch Alliance flight overall
• The 59th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
• The 27th NASA launch by United Launch Alliance
• The 81st United Launch Alliance flight from Cape Canaveral
• The 22nd 500-series flight of the Atlas 5
• The 4th Atlas 5 to fly in the 541 configuration
• The 82nd launch from Complex 41
• The 55th Atlas 5 to use Complex 41
  

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  17 сек17 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800106918773661696)  
We're working an issue with the launch vehicle. Extending the hold. #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash). Watch live at http://www.ulalaunch.com  (https://t.co/S6v3GrEKcX)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  2 мин2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800106351611547648)  
The countdown has entered a planned hold at T-4 minutes. On track for launch at 5:42 pm EST. Watch live! http://bit.ly/av_goesr  (https://t.co/O9NkX4WZtT)

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
Ожидаемое время пуска 01:57 ДМВ.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  12 мин.12 минут назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800109118354845697)  
Another cool picture while you wait
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159171.jpg)

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  2 мин.2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800112115394572288)  
New #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) time is 6:12 p.m. EST. Launch window extends to 6:42 p.m. EST.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  9 сек.10 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800114715166851072)  
Sibling issue is resolved. No impact to #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  2 мин.2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800114347221651457)  
Polling now on situation

Цитировать2253 GMT (5:53 p.m. EST)
ULA President Tory Bruno says this particular Atlas 5 rocket appears to be fine, but test data with another rocket has called a component into question. Engineers doing due diligence to verify.

Цитировать (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/2911031702/01dccfcc8ce64a6d4a9579ec2cb3b6cc_bigger.jpeg) NOAA Satellites ‏@NOAASatellites  (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites)  3 мин.3 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites/status/800115623657349121)  
Another 5 minutes added. We are now at no earlier than 6:27pm EST for launch. http://www.nasa.gov/ntv  (https://t.co/A7W4KtMSpf)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159172.jpg)

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/11/18/av069_journal/

Цитировать2253 GMT (5:53 p.m. EST)
 test data with another rocket has called a component into question.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  2 мин.2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800116204190896128)  
Remaining in the hold at T-4 minutes due to range issue. #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) launch now no earlier than 6:27 p.m.

Цитировать2312 GMT (6:12 p.m. EST)
But now the Eastern Range is working an issue.

2310 GMT (6:10 p.m. EST)
Issue has been resolved! There is no concern with the GOES-R vehicle.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185344.jpg) NASA_LSP ‏@NASA_LSP  (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP)  4 мин.4 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP/status/800116753602846724)     Cape Canaveral, FL  (https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A1739d72c18edbb1e)  
The #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) spacecraft has been giving the go ahead to go on internal power, ensuring it is ready if the Range issue is resolved. #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash)

Цитироватьopinion пишет:
 Чё, прям ночью?

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185939.jpg) We Are Go ‏@WeAreGoFL  (https://twitter.com/WeAreGoFL)  3 мин.3 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/WeAreGoFL/status/800117162014896128)  
New T0 of 6:42pm, which would be the end of the launch window. #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg) Chris B - NSF ‏@NASASpaceflight  (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight)  4 мин.4 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/800117082792849408)  
Atlas V/GOES-R T-0 target now 23:42 Zulu. End of the window, single shot. No pressure, Eastern Range!
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159175.jpg)

Цитировать (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/740778769720463365/R2oIqvnJ_bigger.jpg)   (https://twitter.com/TrevorMahlmann)
(https://twitter.com/TrevorMahlmann)

Цитировать (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/740778769720463365/R2oIqvnJ_bigger.jpg)   (https://twitter.com/TrevorMahlmann)
(https://twitter.com/TrevorMahlmann)

ЦитироватьПрол пишет:
В штатное время пуск готово было смотреть в 2 раза меньше народа. Пиар, однако  :)  .

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185344.jpg) NASA_LSP ‏@NASA_LSP  (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP)  9 мин.9 минут назад (https://twitter.com/NASA_LSP/status/800117668418355200)     Cape Canaveral, FL  (https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A1739d72c18edbb1e)  
NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez reperformed his readiness poll. The NASA team is GO. #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash)
 
  (https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/798361504516976640/BFiwXp7f_bigger.jpg) Big Deal ‏@BazTastic77  (https://twitter.com/BazTastic77)  8 мин.8 минут назад (https://twitter.com/BazTastic77/status/800117872194363396)  
Looking good now!! God speed #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/125513.png)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159174.jpg)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  11 мин.11 минут назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800117314867838976)  
New #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) launch time is 6:42 p.m. EST pending resolution of issue on the Eastern Range. Watch live.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185968.jpg) Scott Sutherland ‏@ScottWx_TWN  (https://twitter.com/ScottWx_TWN)  10 мин.10 минут назад (https://twitter.com/ScottWx_TWN/status/800117881556127745)  
Range is clear, launch vehicle is good. Looks like we're going to be Go for Launch on #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) at 6:42p. Polling soon! http://bit.ly/2g5t0o6  (https://t.co/Yg6DRzinzd)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159173.jpg)

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  54 сек.54 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800120307407147008)  
Polling for readiness for terminal count

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800120513632866304)  
All go

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800120599465095168)  
Polling is complete and we are GO! #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) launch planned for 6:42 p.m. EST. Watch live! http://www.ulalaunch.com  (https://t.co/S6v3GrEKcX)

Цитировать2337 GMT (6:37 p.m. EST)
 Standing by to pick up the count.
 
2336 GMT (6:36 p.m. EST)
 The ULA launch director has given the final approval to resume the countdown.
 
2335 GMT (6:35 p.m. EST)
 Polling of the team by Atlas launch conductor just occurred. All systems are reported GO for flight.
 
2333 GMT (6:33 p.m. EST)
 Standing by for the final readiness check to be conducted. The launch team will be polled for a "go" or "no go" to proceed with the count.
 
2327 GMT (6:27 p.m. EST)
 NASA Launch Director Omar Baez has performed the agency's clear-to-launch poll and the advisory team is working no issues.
 
2323 GMT (6:23 p.m. EST)
 Range issue has been resolved.
 
2319 GMT (6:19 p.m. EST)
 GOES-R is switching to internal battery power for launch.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800121328464297984)  
Securing LO2 topping.
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  2 мин.2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800121038805745664)  
T-4 min and counting

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800121564775616512)  
Bird internal

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  19 сек.20 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122006943371264)  
Ignition

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  13 сек.13 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122264842866688)  
RD180 nominal
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  24 сек.24 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122219078844416)  
Max Q

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  9 сек.10 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122504622772224)  
Clean SRB sep
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  22 сек.23 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122448943443968)  
SRB burn out

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  53 сек.53 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122641617068032)  
RD180 good. Throttle back nominal. 5600mph

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  37 сек.37 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122933695971328)  
PLF jettison. Nominal
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  58 сек.58 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122846240382977)  
A blistering 8000mph. !!
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800122750723620864)  
Hot straight and normal

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  15 сек.16 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123240903413761)  
BECO good. Sep clean. RL10 nominal
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  56 сек.57 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123066420490240)  
Throttled up and ripping through the sky at nearly 12,000mph

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  39 сек.39 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123346964926464)  
Nice view of the departing booster when RL10 ignited

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  15 сек.15 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123648010919936)  
All systems nominal
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  27 сек.27 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123595737313282)  
Booster performance was slightly above nominal.
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  51 сек.51 секунду назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123493446656000)  
Approaching ludicrous speed, at nearly 14,000mph

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  27 сек.28 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800123799823859716)  
Steering straight down the pipe at over 14,000mph

Цитировать2346 GMT (6:46 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 4 minutes, 27 seconds. BECO. Booster Engine Cutoff is confirmed as the RD-180 powerplant on the first stage completes its burn. Standing by to fire the retro thrusters and separate the spent stage.
 
2345 GMT (6:45 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 3 minutes, 42 seconds. The two-halves of the Atlas 5 rocket nose cone encapsulating the GOES-R spacecraft have separated, exposed the satellite to space. Also jettisoned was the Forward Load Reactor, a two-piece deck that rings the Centaur stage to support the bulbous fairing during launch.
 
2345 GMT (6:45 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The RD-180 main engine continues to fire normally, burning a mixture of highly refined kerosene and liquid oxygen.
 
2345 GMT (6:45 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 3 minutes. The vehicle weighs just a quarter of what it did at liftoff.
 
2344 GMT (6:44 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 2 minutes, 50 seconds. Reaction control system has been activated.
 
2344 GMT (6:44 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 2 minutes, 40 seconds. Everything still looking good on the first stage as the rocket powers downrange on the thrust being produced by the main engine.
 
2344 GMT (6:44 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Vehicle is right on course.
 
2343 GMT (6:43 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 1 minute, 53 seconds. All four of the Aerojet Rocketdyne-made solid rocket motors have successfully separated fr om the Atlas 5, having completed their job of adding a powerful kick at liftoff.
 
2343 GMT (6:43 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 93 seconds. Solid rocket booster burnout has occurred. But the spent motors will remain attached to the first stage for a few seconds, until the Atlas 5 reaches a point wh ere the airborne dynamic pressure reduces to an allowable level for a safe jettison.
 
2343 GMT (6:43 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 60 seconds into this complex three-and-a-half-hour mission to deploy the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R in a high-perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit.
 
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 51 seconds. A period of maximum dynamic pressure is being experienced by the rocket.
 
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 40 seconds. The main engine is throttling down to ease the stresses on the vehicle in the lower atmosphere.
 
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 36 seconds. Mach 1.
 
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 30 seconds. The vehicle is heading due eastward to reach a 28-degree inclination preliminary parking orbit 12 minutes from now.
 
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 15 seconds. Pitch, yaw and roll maneuvers are underway as the Atlas 5 thunders away from Cape Canaveral with its RD-180 engine and four solid rocket boosters burning.
 
2342 GMT (6:42 p.m. EST)
 LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the 100th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle and the GOES-R spacecraft for the future of weather forecasting across America!

Цитировать2346 GMT (6:46 p.m. EST)
T+plus 4 minutes, 44 seconds. Centaur has ignited! The RL10C engine is up and running at full thrust for its first of three firings today to reach the intended geosynchronous transfer orbit.

2346 GMT (6:46 p.m. EST)
T+plus 4 minutes, 37 seconds. The Atlas 5's Common Core Booster first stage has been jettisoned, and the Centaur upper stage's liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems are being readied for engine start.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  2 мин.2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800124379053117440)  
All nominal. >15,000mph. 150miles in altitude

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  12 сек.12 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800125042554261504)  
Orbital!!!!
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  53 сек.53 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800124871053377536)  
1 min to MECO
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800124773959434240)  
Now over 16,000 mph. !!
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  2 мин.2 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800124675422621696)  
All systems nominal. Around 2 minutes left in burn

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  31 сек.32 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800125225790820352)  
2 more burns to go
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  54 сек.55 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800125129091059712)  
MECO

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  57 сек.58 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800125345093603328)  
About 9 min coast

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185433.jpg) Michael Seeley ‏@Mike_Seeley  (https://twitter.com/Mike_Seeley)  
Beautiful liftoff of the #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash) rocket at 6:42pm (ET) - congrats to @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch) and @NOAA (https://twitter.com/NOAA)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/159168.jpg)

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185645.jpg) ULA ‏@ulalaunch  (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/800125743116197888)  
First Centaur Main Engine Cutoff Complete. Traveling at 17,614 mph. #GOESR (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESR?src=hash) #AtlasV (https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtlasV?src=hash)

Цитировать2356 GMT (6:56 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 14 minutes, 30 seconds. That first burn by Centaur ins erted the rocket in to the precise target orbit as planned.
 
2354 GMT (6:54 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 12 minutes, 26 seconds. MECO 1. Centaur's main engine has shut down following its first burn today, achieving a preliminary orbit around Earth. The rocket will coast in this orbit for about 10 minutes before the RL10C engine re-ignites for the next burn.
 
2354 GMT (6:54 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 12 minutes, 1 second. Centaur is now orbital.
 
2353 GMT (6:53 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 11 minutes, 30 seconds. About one minute are left in this burn of Centaur.
 
2352 GMT (6:52 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 10 minutes. All systems reported stable as the Centaur fires to reach an initial Earth orbit.
 
2351 GMT (6:51 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 9 minutes. The RL10C continues to perform well, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.
 
2350 GMT (6:50 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 8 minutes, 55 seconds. Vehicle traveling at 15,290 mph.
 
2349 GMT (6:49 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 7 minutes, 15 seconds. The rocket has performed a planned roll to improve antenna links with NASA's orbiting Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.
 
2348 GMT (6:48 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 6 minutes, 30 seconds. A look at first stage performance numbers show a nominal burn by the booster.
 
2348 GMT (6:48 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 6 minutes. RL10C performing well.
 
2347 GMT (6:47 p.m. EST)
 T+plus 5 minutes. Nearly 95 percent of the rocket's liftoff mass has been shed. Centaur engine readings look good as this burn gets underway.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  31 сек.32 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800127284892041216)  
Centaur fully settled in prep for next burn
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800127049478250497)  
Tory Bruno Ретвитнул(а) Cosmic Carol
Me too. (For almost the 400th time)
Tory Bruno добавил(а),

Цитировать  (https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Carol/status/800126586104193024)  
 Cosmic Carol  @Cosmic_Carol  
That feeling in your chest as the rumble hits. The lights as it ignited!! I just lived my dream. #GOESR #ATLASV @torybruno

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  51 сек.52 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800127528597737477)  
Restart

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  42 сек.42 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800127763013398530)  
Five and a half minute burn, raising the apogee to a transfer orbit
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800127600148545536)  
Ignition. RL10 nominal

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  41 сек.42 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800127973827317761)  
Blasting through space at an impossible 19,000mph

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  39 сек.40 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800128210654601216)
All systems nominal

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  25 сек.25 секунд назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800128530063323136)  
Centaur is now over 6000 miles from home

Цитировать0007 GMT (7:07 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 25 minutes, 40 seconds. About two minutes are left in the burn to reach the next orbit. Everything continues to look nominal.
 
0005 GMT (7:05 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 23 minutes. Continued good engine operation is being delivered by the RL10C, no problems reported.
 
0004 GMT (7:04 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 22 minutes, 45 seconds. The engine is burning well. This is a planned five-and-a-half-minute firing by the Centaur's single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C engine.
 
0004 GMT (7:04 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 22 minutes, 6 seconds. Ignition! The Centaur's single RL10C engine has re-ignited to climb into a highly elliptical intermediate orbit on the way to the final perch later today.
 
0003 GMT (7:03 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 21 minutes, 56 seconds. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen system prestarts are underway.
 
0003 GMT (7:03 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 21 minutes. Centaur getting into its pressurization sequence.
 
0002 GMT (7:02 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 20 minutes. Velocity currently 17,692 mph.
 
0001 GMT (7:01 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 19 minutes. The flight path is taking the vehicle over the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, soon to near the western coast of Africa where the next Centaur burn will occur. It will soar away from the Indian Ocean over the course of the next couple of hours before the RL10C restarts for a final time to accelerate GOES-R into the geosynchronous transfer orbit and separating the payload.
 
0000 GMT (7:00 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 18 minutes. Centaur is half-way through this coast period. It is completing a slow roll to keep thermal heating even across the rocket's surfaces.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  32 сек.32 секунды назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800129136085737472)  
MECO. All nominal. Hit our transfer orbit. Next burn in 3 hours.
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/29931.jpg) Tory Bruno ‏@torybruno  (https://twitter.com/torybruno)  1 мин.1 минуту назад (https://twitter.com/torybruno/status/800128907349520384)  
1 minute to MECO. Picking up 10,000 ft of apogee at the end

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589)  8 мин8 минут назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800129464893992960)  
MECO-2, GOES-R/Centaur AV-069 in a 187 x 32728 km x 27.68 deg geotransfer orbit. Will coast to apogee before next burn.
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589)  15 мин15 минут назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800127733393137664)  
Centaur has restarted to head for geotransfer orbit
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589)  24 мин24 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800125646483685376)  
AV-069 Centaur now in about a 167 x 540 km x 28 deg parking orbit
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589)  33 мин33 минуты назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800123320884596736)  
Atlas stage has separated, Centaur is firing its RL10 engine
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589)  38 мин38 минут назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800122035695448064)  
LAUNCH of GOES-R aboard Atlas V flight AV-069 from Cape Canaveral at 2342 UTC Nov 19

Цитировать0019 GMT (7:19 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 37 minutes, Current velocity is 20,284 mph.
 
0014 GMT (7:14 p.m. EST Sat.)
 We will pause our live updates at this time. Check back around 10:09 p.m. EST for coverage of the third Centaur burn and deploy of the GOES-R satellite to complete today's mission.
 
0012 GMT (7:12 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 30 minutes. Centaur now begins a quiet three-hour coast through space, moving higher and away from the planet before the third and final burn occurs three hours and 27 minutes into flight. Deployment of GOES-R from the rocket to complete the launch is expected 3 hours, 32 minutes after launch.
 
0011 GMT (7:11 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 29 minutes, 30 seconds. The second burn by Centaur ins erted the rocket in to another precise orbit as targeted.
 
0009 GMT (7:09 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 27 minutes, 40 seconds. MECO 2. Main engine cutoff confirmed. Centaur has completed its second burn of the day, this one taking the next step upwards to substantially increase the altitude from the previous parking to nearly geosynchronous height.
 
0008 GMT (7:08 p.m. EST Sat.)
 T+plus 26 minutes, 45 seconds. Engine performance remains normal.

Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800176163712856065)
GOES-R will become GOES-16 once operational. Mass is 2857 kg plus additional 2335 kg of propellant for its onboard engine
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800175994002931713)
GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. GOES 1 was launched in 1975, the prototype SMS 1 in 1974
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800175620273618944)
GOES-R has now separated from Centaur AV-069, both objects in high-perigee geotransfer orbit. Congrats to @NOAASatellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites) @ulalaunch (https://twitter.com/ulalaunch)
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800175375024275456)
Correction: Centaur MECO-3, orbit now 8141 x 35288 km x 10.6 deg Preparing to separate the GOES-R satellite (corrected typo in apogee)

  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589). (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800174497349378048)4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800174497349378048)
This burn increasing speed at apogee will make the perigee higher, reducing how much fuel the sat itself needs to get to GEO
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800174336317341697)
Centaur third burn (MES-3, Main Engine Start 3) underway
 
  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/67516.jpg) Jonathan McDowell ‏@planet4589  (https://twitter.com/planet4589) 4 ч.4 часа назад (https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/800170882605846528)
Centaur approaching apogee; third burn in 15 min at 0309 UTC

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Кто популярно объяснит: почему данный аппарат называют "революционным"?

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Кто популярно объяснит: почему данный аппарат называют "революционным"?

ЦитироватьSteve Volz, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Satellites and Information Services (NESDIS) lauded the satellite's capabilities at a press conference today, saying they are a "quantum leap" beyond the GOES satellites currently on orbit -- GOES-13, -14 and -15.   He likened it to the difference between black and white television of yesteryear and ultra high definition television of today.
...
GOES-R has six instruments.  Mandt explained that the spacecraft's primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), will have three times the spectral resolution of its predecessors and will be able to scan from the North to South poles 5 times faster.  It will be able to zoom in on a specific storm and look at it every 30 seconds -- a temporal resolution that will "revolutionize forecasting."  

Japan's Himawari 8, already in orbit, has an ABI, enabling NOAA to test out new algorithms before GOES-R is launched, he added.

GOES-R also has a lightning mapper that will allow tracking cloud-to-cloud lightning in addition to cloud-to-ground, and lightning over oceans.  Another instrument will be able to spot not only when fog is forming, but when it is decaying, which will improve airport operations, for example. Space weather instruments also are aboard to study activity on the Sun that can affect the Earth.

Louis Uccellini, Director of NOAA's National Weather Service, enthused that the GOES-R will provide "new and improved forecasts and warnings from the Sun to the sea to help save lives and property."

Цитироватьwill be able to scan from the North to South poles

ЦитироватьNot пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Кто популярно объяснит: почему данный аппарат называют "революционным"?

Потому что стоит 10 миллиардов баксов.
Где то тут бегал ВалериЖ и нудел, что не должен борт столько стоить, попил дескать.  :)

ЦитироватьNot пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Кто популярно объяснит: почему данный аппарат называют "революционным"?

Потому что стоит 10 миллиардов баксов.

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
Не разведка. В метеорологии всё гораздо быстрее меняется и зачастую дороже по последствиям.

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
Не разведка. В метеорологии всё гораздо быстрее меняется и зачастую дороже по последствиям.

Предыдущие спутники меняли картинку кажется раз в 10-15 минут. Неужели с тех пор в метеорологии всё настолько убыстрилось?

ЦитироватьSalo пишет: 
Теперь ураганы будут отслеживаться каждые 30 секунд. Думаешь просто прикалываются?

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
Чтобы спрогнозировать движение урагана одного изображения недостаточно, нужно несколько. Вот и считай.

ЦитироватьNot пишет:
Потому что стоит 10 миллиардов баксов

ЦитироватьДо 2036 года США планируют осуществить запуск четырех идентичных спутника серии GOES: GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T, GOES-U. Стоимость одного спутника — около 500 миллионов долларов, расчетное время работы каждого — десять лет.

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Теперь вот один(!) метеоспутник по цене всех марсианских АМС вместе взятых.
 Или я чтото путаю?

Цитироватьandr59 пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Теперь вот один(!) метеоспутник по цене всех марсианских АМС вместе взятых.
 Или я чтото путаю?

$500 млн. он стоит...

Цитироватьandr59 пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Теперь вот один(!) метеоспутник по цене всех марсианских АМС вместе взятых.
 Или я чтото путаю?

$500 млн. он стоит...

ЦитироватьSalo пишет:
Володь, что ты доказать хочешь? GOES-R отстой? Ну и ладно, если тебе так спокойнее.

ЦитироватьNot пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Кто популярно объяснит: почему данный аппарат называют "революционным"?

Потому что стоит 10 миллиардов баксов.
Где то тут бегал ВалериЖ и нудел, что не должен борт столько стоить, попил дескать.  :)

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:

ЦитироватьSalo   пишет:
Володь, что ты доказать хочешь? GOES-R отстой? Ну и ладно, если тебе так спокойнее.

Я вобщето ничего не доказываю. Просто интересно откуда пошли заявления про "революционный" характер данного спутника. Аж до Йэху Москвы докатилось.

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:

Цитироватьwill be able to scan from the North to South poles

С геостационара сканировать полюса это действительно революционное нововведение, эквивалентное изобретению кривых лучей света.  :)  

В остальном не понял. Ну будет сканировать в разы быстрее, с в разы лучшим спектральным и пространственным разрешением. Как это приведёт к революции в метеорологии? Чай не разведка...

Цитироватьinstml пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:

Цитироватьwill be able to scan from the North to South poles

С геостационара сканировать полюса это действительно революционное нововведение, эквивалентное изобретению кривых лучей света.  :)  

В остальном не понял. Ну будет сканировать в разы быстрее, с в разы лучшим спектральным и пространственным разрешением. Как это приведёт к революции в метеорологии? Чай не разведка...

не полюсов, а от одного полюса до другого!

ЦитироватьНормальная цена. Для американских КА вполне умеренная - AEHF, например, один стоит больше $2 000 млн.

ЦитироватьРакета Atlas V вывела на орбиту американский метеоспутник нового поколения
 20 ноября, 7:47 UTC+3
 Спутник GOES-R успешно отделился от верхней ступени Atlas V и теперь впервые находится в состоянии автономного полета
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/133250.jpg)
  © NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goes-r-separates-from-atlas-v-centaur-upper-stage)  
 
НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 20 ноября. /Корр. ТАСС Кирилл Волков/. Ракета Atlas V производства компании United Launch Alliance успешно вывела американский метеоспутник нового поколения GOES-R на расчетную орбиту. Носитель стартовал в субботу с базы ВВС США, расположенной у космодрома на мысе Канаверал (штат Флорида), в 18:42 по местному времени (в 02:42 мск в воскресенье).
Изначально ракета должна была отправиться в полет на час раньше, однако после обнаружения технической неполадки запуск пришлось отложить. В итоге неисправность была устранена специалистами.
"GOES-R успешно отделился от верхней ступени (Atlas V) и теперь впервые находится в состоянии автономного полета", - отмечается в сообщении Национального управления США по исследованию океанов и атмосферы (NOAA) в Twitter. После отделения аппарат должен раскрыть свои солнечные батареи, которые будут обеспечивать его энергией во время выполнения миссии. Аппарат был выведен на орбиту высотой около 30 тыс. км, после чего он должен будет самостоятельно повысить ее до геостационарной (около 35,7 тыс. км).
GOES-R производства корпорации Lockheed Martin призван радикально модернизировать систему наблюдения за климатом, используемую в настоящее время NOAA. Сейчас такие наблюдения ведутся с помощью трех спутников, ресурс работы которых почти исчерпан. В случае отказа одного из аппаратов NOAA лишится запасного варианта, отключение двух оставит страну без метеорологических данных.
Работу запущенный спутник начнет лишь через несколько месяцев после проведения необходимых тестов. Стоимость одного спутника GOES составляет около $1 млрд, а расчетный срок его службы - 10 лет. В ближайшие 20 лет США планируют вывести на орбиту еще несколько таких аппаратов.
Новый спутник способен дать картину текущих атмосферных процессов над всем Западным полушарием, причем в кратчайшие сроки. Он оснащен камерой, которая в состоянии сформировать общую фотокартину полушария всего за пять минут. Более того, она сможет обновлять снимки отдельных регионов каждые 30 секунд, тогда как действующие аппараты могут это делать не чаще одного раза в шесть минут. Эти изображения, как заверяют разработчики спутника, будут в высшей степени четкими и существенно превосходящими по качеству снимки, получаемые с действующих спутников.
На GOES-R также установлен прибор, позволяющий отслеживать частоту и интенсивность световых вспышек в атмосфере над всей Северной Америкой. Эти наблюдения весьма важны для метеорологов, так как позволяют определить степень опасности зарождающихся гроз, ураганов и штормов.

ЦитироватьЧебурашка пишет:
Может 10 миллиардов вся программа стоит, включая четыре спутника, управление на весь жизненный цикл и наземный сегмент для обработки данных с них?

ЦитироватьGOES-R is the first of four satellites in a system upgrade that will cost $11 billion, including launch fees, said NOAA Assistant Administrator Stephen Volz. The next satellite is slated for launch in 2018.

ЦитироватьDude пишет:

ЦитироватьНормальная цена. Для американских КА вполне умеренная - AEHF, например, один стоит больше $2 000 млн.

и это "связист", а сколько стоят нрошные "шпионы"...

ЦитироватьAtlas 5 launches the most advanced U.S. weather satellite in history             
 November 20, 2016 (http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/11/) Justin Ray (http://spaceflightnow.com/author/justin-sfn-ray/)

CAPE CANAVERAL — Revolutionizing the way American meteorologists see the weather, likened to the advancement fr om black and white television to modern high definition TV, a new observatory was successfully launched Saturday by an Atlas 5 rocket to serve as the linchpin to forecasting what tomorrow will bring.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R, or GOES-R, roared away from Cape Canaveral at 6:42 p.m. EST (2342 GMT).
The launch was delayed an hour while engineers verified a potential concern with a component on another rocket was no threat to the Atlas, then worked an undisclosed problem with the Eastern Range.
But those issues were resolved in time for liftoff to occur at the very last moment in the day's hour-long launch opportunity.
"The flight hardware performed beautifully throughout the count and the weather was perfect," said Omar Baez, the NASA launch director.
Liftoff begin three-and-a-half hours of highly complex maneuvers and in-space engine firings that propelled the 11,500-pound spacecraft into a customized elliptical orbit stretching from 5,000 to 22,000 miles and tilted 10 degrees, using the Atlas-Centaur's capabilities to save the satellite's precious onboard fuel supply.
At 10:14 p.m. EST (0314 GMT), GOES-R was deployed to fly freely, then unfolded its power-generating solar array minutes later, beginning a 20-year lifespan observing the weather across the Western Hemisphere — specifically the continental United States — with unprecedented resolution and speed.
It marked the 138th successful launch in a row for the Atlas program spanning 23 years, the 67th for the Atlas 5 over the span of 14 years, the second in just 8 days, and extended United Launch Alliance's mission record to 113 in nearly 10 years.
"NASA has chosen one of the most reliable launch vehicles in the world to go put the GOES-R spacecraft up into orbit," said Scott Messer, program manager for NASA Missions at United Launch Alliance.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155172.jpg) (http://spaceflightnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/liftoff.jpg)
Official launch photo. Credit: United Launch Alliance

What's more, it also represented the milestone-setting 100th flight for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program by the combined Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rocket fleets. Both families were created commercially, with seed money from the Air Force, to serve the national needs of the U.S.
EELV has launched at least 633,000 pounds of cargo into space, and that's not counting 27 flights with classified payload masses that likely push the total close to one million pounds in 100 flights.
All 100 EELV launches have been deemed successful by the customers of each, which have ranged from military to spy satellites and civil science missions to commercial spacecraft.
"GOES-R is a historic mission. It will be the most sophisticated weather satellite that NOAA has ever operated, with new technology never before seen and used in a geostationary orbit for forecasting," said Greg Mandt, NOAA's GOES-R program manager.
The Lockheed Martin-built craft is the first of four that will be launched through 2024, ensure U.S. weather observations through at least 2036 as part of an $11 billion development effort. The satellites promise to dramatically improve the timeliness and accuracy of weather forecasts and warnings.
"For 40 years, we've sort of had the same simple pictures. Meteorologists are calling this a game-changer from their ability to watch what's going on and warn the nation," said Mandt.
Officials estimate GOES-R will transmit more data in six months of operation than all previous GOES weather satellites combined.
The heart of GOES-R is its Advanced Baseline Imager, the sophisticated digital camera that offers more embedded data at higher resolution taken in quicker intervals than ever before.
"When we see an evolving weather system, we'll be able to zoom in and use that high spatial resolution to take pictures in 16 different spectral channels every 30 seconds," said Joe Pica, director of the National Weather Service Office of Observations.
"This spectral imagery, combined with our doppler radar data, for example, will improve our understanding of whether a storm is growing or decaying. It'll help us track severe storms, including tornadoes, forecast wildfire movement, track plumes from volcanic eruptions and tell whether a hurricane is intensifying."
ABI will produce 95 percent of the data from GOES-R, downlinking the equivalent of 210 HD movies every day.
The current GOES satellites are capable of taking a full picture of the hemisphere every 27 minutes and can zoom in to an area of interest — like a thunderstorm or hurricane — to image that every five minutes.
GOES-R will improve those times significantly, scanning from pole to pole every five minutes and refreshing the view of targeted storms every 30 seconds to better probe the rapid intensification or weakening.
And the ABI takes just 22 horizontal strips — like your mobile phone's camera in panorama mode — to cover the whole hemisphere compared to 1,356 strips by the existing GOES generation.
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155150.jpg) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155150.jpg)
An artist's concept of GOES-R. Credit: NOAA

"We are really excited about the increase in temporal resolution to receive data for the continental United States at five-minute intervals and have the options to receive data for specific events — like hurricanes — at 30-second looks," said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service.
"It will give us extraordinary ability to sustain our situational awareness as to how these storms are changing their intensity, not only in the development phase but as they decay."
ABI, manufactured by Harris Corp., uses an imaging reflectometer/radiometer with 16 sensing channels spanning visible, near-infrared and infrared wavelengths. Resolution ranges from 1,640 feet (0.5 km) in visible to 6,560 feet (2 km) in infrared from 22,300 miles away.
It also produces real-time estimates of central pressure and maximum sustained winds for tracking the intensity of hurricanes, and measures the key ingredients of severe weather like winds and cloud growth to improve tornado warnings.
Data will be sent to the ground in 0.14 seconds, rapidly processed and then piped out to forecasters in 4.3 seconds.
Geostationary satellites are considered the most important tool in hurricane monitoring and forecasting, Uccellini said, and GOES-R promises to advance the science by improved height specifications to atmospheric winds that steer hurricanes and continuously monitor the health of the eye wall wh ere the strongest winds are located as the storm nears the coastline.
Although not yet operational by next summer's hurricane season, Uccellini said meteorologists will be testing their algorithms at the National Hurricane Center.
Asked if storms are becoming more destructive, Uccellini said: "We are becoming more vulnerable," such as more people living along the coast.
In addition the weather forecasting, the imagery will be used for detecting and characterizing wildfires, analyzing air pollution, monitoring volcanic ash clouds and assessing vegetation.
The satellite also carries the first Geostationary Lightning Mapper, a Lockheed Martin-made instrument that will take 200 images per second to detect in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning over the Americas and surrounding ocean areas to increase the warning time for severe weather.
"The lightning detector will provide an early detection of those clouds that are going to affect you and provide the first signals that severe convection is actually developing," Uccellini said.
"The doubling of the spatial resolution will be incredible in terms of the imagery — like comparing black and white TV of the 60s to today's 4K HD imagery," said Mary Glackin, head of science & forecast operations and senior vice president for public-private partnerships at The Weather Company.
"The lightning mapper is also much anticipated. It will really enable services to provide such as outdoor workers' safety."
And the FAA, for example, expects to use GOES-R to gain better information on the location of turbulence, enhance the forecasts of when fog will develop or burn off that impacts airports, unravel the depth of smoke from wildfires and ash clouds from volcanoes for airline routes, and use the lightning detector to improve the visibility into storms over the oceans.
GOES-R also has instruments to monitor the sun, detect solar storm eruptions and alert when the space weather arrives at Earth. Such storms can impact communications, disrupt power grids, threaten the health of astronauts and harm satellites.
"GOES-R will produce new products that will boost NOAA's ability to accurately forecast the weather on Earth and in space," said Mandt.
"As researchers and forecasters learn to use the full data from this satellite, additional products will be developed to have even a greater impact on weather forecasting."
The GOES-R satellite is expected to produce 1.75 terabytes of data products daily for the National Weather Service and other users.
"We are ready for this data as it flows," said Uccellini, adding that the National Weather Service will be part of the satellite's one-year engineering checkout and commissioning.
"By advancing our observation capability to their extraordinary level, we will be able to offer new and improved forecasts and warnings to save lives and property."
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155169.png) (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/155169.png)
The GOES operating constellation before today's launch. Credit: NOAA

The first images from the new satellite, to be renamed GOES-16, is expected in about two months. The decision on which orbital position it will fill should come in about six months. And the craft's commissioning and validation period should be finished by this time next year.
Currently, GOES-15 is the GOES-West satellite at 135 degrees West longitude and GOES-13 is the GOES-East satellite at 75 degrees West.
The GOES-14 serves as the in-space spare, parked in the middle and ready to pivot to either slot and enter service at a moment's notice.
The GOES-S satellite is due to launch in early 2018, followed by GOES-T in 2019 and GOES-U in 2024.
The satellites and instruments are clones of each other. They are being built in one fell swoop with no upgrades planned.
"This is a quantum leap that we've not seen since introduction of geostationary program in the 70s," said Mandt.

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:

ЦитироватьNot пишет:

ЦитироватьСтарый пишет:
Кто популярно объяснит: почему данный аппарат называют "революционным"?

Потому что стоит 10 миллиардов баксов.

Сикока, сикока???  :o   :o   :o  

Цитировать(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/185339.jpg) NASA‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA  (https://twitter.com/NASA) 5 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASA/status/838827386720387077)
 
Detecting & predicting lightning just got a lot easier. First images from @NOAASatellite (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellite)'s GOES-16 Lightning Mapper: http://go.nasa.gov/2mf1okx  (https://t.co/DgYoMo3woh)
 (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/157240.jpg)

ЦитироватьMarch 6, 2017
 
Flashy First Images Arrive From NOAA's GOES-16 Lightning Mapper
 
 Detecting and predicting lightning just got a lot easier. The first images from a new instrument onboard NOAA's GOES-16 satellite are giving NOAA National Weather Service forecasters richer information about lightning that will help them alert the public to dangerous weather.

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/207739.jpg) (https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/glm_sqrt_scaled_full_disk_lightning_2017_02_14_0.jpg)
 
This is one hour of GOES-16's Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) lightning data from Feb. 14, when GLM acquired 1.8 million images of the Earth. It is displayed over GOES-16 ABI full disk Band 2 imagery. Brighter colors indicate more lightning energy was recorded; color bar units are the calculated kilowatt-hours of total optical emissions from lightning. The brightest storm system is located over the Gulf Coast of Texas, the same storm system in the accompanying video. This is preliminary, non-operational data.
Credits: NOAA/NASA

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The first lightning detector in a geostationary orbit, the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) (http://www.goes-r.gov/spacesegment/glm.html), is transmitting data never before available to forecasters. The mapper continually looks for lightning flashes in the Western Hemisphere, so forecasters know when a storm is forming, intensifying and becoming more dangerous. Rapid increases of lightning are a signal that a storm is strengthening quickly and could produce severe weather.

Спойлер

During heavy rain, GLM data will show when thunderstorms are stalled or if they are gathering strength. When combined with radar and other satellite data, GLM data may help forecasters anticipate severe weather and issue flood and flash flood warnings sooner. In dry areas, especially in the western United States, information from the instrument will help forecasters, and ultimately firefighters, identify areas prone to wildfires sparked by lightning.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcx7gv-LaKs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcx7gv-LaKs)
 
GOES-16's Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) shows lightning over southeast Texas on Feb. 14, 2017. GLM lightning data was overlaid on Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) cloud imagery. Frequent lightning is occurring. Houston is indicated by the green cross and green dotted lines indicate the Texas coastline. This animation, rendered at 25 frames per second, simulates what your eye might see from above the clouds.
Credits: NOAA/NASA
 
Accurate tracking of lightning and thunderstorms over the oceans, too distant for land-based radar and sometimes difficult to see with satellites, will support safe navigation for aviators and mariners.

The new mapper also detects in-cloud lightning, which often occurs five to 10 minutes or more before potentially deadly cloud-to-ground strikes. This means more precious time for forecasters to alert those involved in outdoor activities of the developing threat.

NASA successfully launched GOES-R at 6:42 p.m. EST on November 19, 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and it was renamed GOES-16 when it achieved orbit. GOES-16 is now observing the planet from an equatorial view approximately 22,300 miles above the surface of the Earth.

NOAA's satellites are the backbone of its life-saving weather forecasts. GOES-16 will build upon and extend the more than 40-year legacy of satellite observations from NOAA that the American public has come to rely upon.

Learn more about GOES-16 and all its exciting possibilities for weather forecasting improvements by visiting the GOES-16 website (https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES-16).
For more information about GOES-16, visit: www.goes-r.gov/ (http://www.goes-r.gov/) or www.nasa.gov/goes (http://www.nasa.gov/goes)


Michelle Smith
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Last Updated: March 6, 2017
Editor: Lynn Jenner

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Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186040.jpg) Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight) 26 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/901130947667644421)

GOES-16 (GOES-R), launched by an Atlas V last year - showing #harveyhurricane (https://twitter.com/hashtag/harveyhurricane?src=hash) in the last hour - Stay safe everyone!
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166564.jpg)

Спойлер

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166563.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/166565.jpg)

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Цитировать (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/186276.jpg) NOAA Satellites‏Подлинная учетная запись @NOAASatellites (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites) 44 мин. назад (https://twitter.com/NOAASatellites/status/942899492185092096)

NEW! You can access imagery from NOAA's #GOESEast (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOESEast?src=hash) satellite (#GOES16 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/GOES16?src=hash)) which officially went operational today through our GOES-East Image Viewer: https://go.usa.gov/xnQt8  (https://t.co/V1ytEnQSXZ).
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/172203.jpg)

ЦитироватьNOAA's GOES-16 weather satellite declared operational
December 20, 2017 (https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/12/) Stephen Clark (https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/)

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143847.jpg)
Artist's concept of the GOES 16 satellite. Credit: Lockheed Martin

An upgraded NOAA weather satellite has entered service after a year of checkouts to provide critical, rapidly-refreshed imagery to forecasters in time for next year's severe storm and hurricane seasons in the United States and the Atlantic Ocean.

NOAA announced Monday that the GOES-16 spacecraft began regular weather observations after ground controllers maneuvered the satellite to its new operating position in geostationary orbit nearly 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator at 75.2 degrees west longitude.

Спойлер

GOES-16 replaces the GOES-13 satellite in NOAA's GOES-East position, which covers the eastern United States and the Atlantic Ocean. Spacecraft in geostationary orbit orbit the Earth at the same rate of the planet's rotation, making it a popular location to enable communications and weather satellites to cover the same geographic location 24 hours a day.

Meteorologists got a taste of GOES-16's capabilities last year, when NOAA offered imagery from the new satellite on an experimental basis. The higher-resolution, more timely imagery can now be incorporated into regular forecasts.

"GOES-16 has proven to be one of the most important tools we've ever developed for our weather and hazard forecasts," said retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet, acting NOAA administrator. "From its impressive first image of Earth last January to monitoring tropical storms and wildfires, GOES-16 has and will continue to greatly improve our ability to visualize potential threats, and enhance forecasts and warnings to save lives and protect property."

(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/143830.jpg)
This full disk image of Earth was captured by the GOES-16 satellite Wednesday. Credit: NOAA

GOES-16 launched Nov. 19, 2016, from Cape Canaveral on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, then boosted itself into a circular geostationary orbit for a year of testing.

Ground controllers took extra time to verify the performance of GOES-16 because it is the first of a new, modernized generation of GOES weather satellites. Built by Lockheed Martin, GOES-16 carries a high-performance camera called the Advanced Baseline Imager, plus a lightning mapper and sensors to monitor solar activity and space weather.

The Advanced Baseline Imager includes 16 imaging filters to take pictures of hurricanes and storm systems in visible and infrared light, an improvement from five imaging channels available on previous GOES satellites.

GOES-16 is NOAA's first geostationary weather satellite to carry a lightning detector.

"We are using the GOES-16 data in ways we planned and in ways we didn't even imagine," said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service. "GOES-16 has been a game changer for monitoring hurricanes, wildfires, severe storms, and lightning. Now that it is operational and the data is incorporated into the forecast process, we will be able to use it across all our service areas, starting with winter storms."

The richer data from new GOES weather satellites — starting with GOES-16 — allow meteorologists to distinguish between snow, fog, clouds, volcanic ash, and other particles suspended in the atmosphere. During GOES-16's test phase, forecasters tracked multiple hurricanes churning through the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, including Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria.

Officials said GOES-16 helped predict how much flooding rainfall would be produced by Hurricane Harvey as it drifted over the Texas coast, helped spot wildfires in California, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and improved air quality forecasts.

GOES-16's primary scanning camera offers views of hurricanes and regions with active weather as often as every 30 seconds. The ABI can operate in several modes, including one to take a full disk image showing most of the Western Hemisphere every 15 minutes and a zoomed-in view of the continental United States every five minutes, while simultaneously tracking a hurricane with better resolution and quicker updates.

The previous generation of GOES satellites take a full disk image of the Western Hemisphere every 30 minutes, collect a U.S. view every 15 minutes, and provide updates on a storm's strength and position every five minutes, but not at the same time.

The next member of the new GOES satellite series — GOES-S, to be renamed GOES-17 after launch — is being readied for liftoff on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral on March 1. It will enter service late next year in the GOES-West position, replacing an earlier satellite with a view of the Pacific Ocean and the western United States.

NOAA operates weather satellites in the GOES-East and GOES-West positions, and maintains at least one backup observatory ready to replace one of the primary spacecraft in case of a failure, ensuring uninterrupted coverage of the Western Hemisphere from Guam to the west coast of Africa.

The GOES-13 satellite is expected to be moved to a standby location now that GOES-16 is operational in the GOES-East slot.

Two more Lockheed Martin-built GOES satellites are scheduled for launch in 2020 and 2024.

The modernized four-satellite weather network is expected to cost nearly $11 billion when complete, including NOAA's purchase of the spacecraft, launch services, instruments and upgrades to ground systems.

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