Feb 6 2009
From The Space Library
NASA launched its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite, NOAA 19, or NOAA-N Prime, aboard a Delta-2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 2:22 a.m. (PST). The successful launch occurred following two scrubs resulting from technical problems. The Lockheed Martin-built NOAA-N]] Prime was the latest and final spacecraft in the Advanced TIROS-N (ATN) satellite series. Lockheed Martin had been designing and building for NASA and NOAA since the first Television and Infrared Observational Satellite (TIROS) weather satellite, which had launched in April 1960. Replacing NOAA 18, NOAA-N Prime would become the primary “afternoon” spacecraft, a designation based upon the time a spacecraft’s orbit crosses the equator. NOAA-N Prime was carrying the same primary instruments that NOAA 18 had on board, with the addition of an Advanced Data Collection System (ADCS) and an improved Search and Rescue Processor. France’s national space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) had provided the ADCS, a system designed to measure environmental factors such as atmospheric temperature and pressure, as well as the velocity and direction of ocean and wind currents. CNES had also provided the Search and Rescue Processor, designed to detect distress calls from emergency beacons on board aircraft and boats, as well as to locate people carrying devices in remote areas.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 664; NASA Spaceflight, “ULA Delta II Launches on Third Attempt with NASA’s NOAA- N Prime,” 6 February 2009.
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