Apr 5 2012
From The Space Library
CONTRACT RELEASE: C12-016 NASA AWARDS LAUNCH CONTRACT FOR GOES-R AND GOES-S MISSIONS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has selected United Launch Services, LLC of Englewood, Colo., to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R and S, or GOES-R and GOES-S. The spacecraft will launch in October 2015 and February 2017, respectively, aboard Atlas V 541 rockets from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The total cost of the GOES-R and GOES-S launch services is approximately $446 million. This estimated cost includes launch service for the Atlas V and additional services under other contracts for payload processing, launch vehicle integration, mission unique launch site ground support and tracking, data and telemetry services. The advanced spacecraft and instrument technology used on GOES-R and GOES-S will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts. It will improve detection and observation of meteorological phenomena that directly affect people's lives. The GOES-R and GOES-S Flight Projects Office, which oversees the development of the Space Segment, is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., The overall GOES-R and GOES-S Program is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA's Launch Services Program based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for Atlas V launch vehicle program management and launch services.
MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-058 NASA HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE WITH STATION CREW MEMBERS
HOUSTON -- Three of the six crew members living aboard the International Space Station will take questions from reporters during a news conference on Wednesday, April 11, at 9:15 a.m. CDT. The conference will air live on NASA Television and will be streamed on the agency's website. The news conference will link up reporters with NASA Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers. The crew members will discuss research they are conducting, the myriad of cargo delivery vehicles visiting the station -- including SpaceX Dragon, the first American commercial vehicle -- and the return of Burbank and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin in their Soyuz spacecraft later this month.
RELEASE: 12-101 NASA SCIENCE CHIEF STATEMENT ON NAMING OF SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE'S ASTRONOMICAL DATABASE FOR SENATOR MIKULSKI
WASHINGTON -- The following is a statement from NASA's Chief Scientist, Waleed Abdalati, on the Space Telescope Science Institute naming its astronomical database the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). MAST holds science data from the Hubble Space Telescope and 14 other NASA missions. "The Space Telescope Science Institute's decision to name its database for Senator Mikulski is an honor very much deserved. She is a tremendous advocate and supporter for science, NASA and the astrophysics community. "Thanks to Hubble and other space observatories, our view of the universe and our place within it has forever been changed. Space research holds tremendous benefits for our lives here on Earth. Images and data capture the imagination of people everywhere, especially of our youth. Images from this collection have permeated American society and culture and are internationally recognized icons of science and exploration. "We live in an age of extraordinary scientific advancement with astronomy at the forefront. NASA is committed to conducting world-class science from our space observatories, and the data that will be returned to the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes are sure to yield many exciting new discoveries."
