Jan 29 2018
From The Space Library
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-019 NASA Invites Media to Upcoming NOAA GOES-S Satellite Launch
Media accreditation is open for the launch Thursday, March 1, of the second in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) series of next-generation geostationary weather satellites.
NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is scheduled to launch at 5:02 p.m. EST on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. GOES-S is the second in the GOES-R Series of weather satellites that includes GOES-R (now GOES-16), -S, -T and -U.
Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at CCAFS and NASA’s neighboring Kennedy Space Center. International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m.Tuesday, Feb. 13, for access to Kennedy media activities only. U.S. media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19. All media accreditation requests should be submitted online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov/
For questions about accreditation, please email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, or additional information, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at 321-867-2468.
GOES-S will be renamed GOES-17 when it reaches geostationary orbit. Once the satellite is declared operational late this year, it will occupy NOAA’s GOES-West position and provide faster, more accurate data for tracking wildfires, tropical cyclones, fog and other storm systems and hazards that threaten the western United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and part of South America.
NOAA manages the GOES-R Series program through an integrated NOAA/NASA office and oversees the acquisition of the program ground system. NASA oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft, instruments and launch vehicles. Lockheed Martin Space of Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and is responsible for spacecraft development, integration and testing.
Mission operations will be performed by NOAA at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Florida, provided the main instrument payload, the Advanced Baseline Imager, and the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data receipt. NASA’s Launch Services Program is responsible for launch management. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is the provider of the Atlas V launch service.
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-020 NASA Television to Air Live Coverage of Upcoming Rare Lunar Eclipse
Sky-gazers are in for a rare treat Wednesday, Jan. 31, when three celestial events combine to create a super blue blood moon. NASA Television and the agency’s website will provide live coverage of the celestial spectacle beginning at 5:30 a.m. EST.
Weather permitting, the broadcast will feature views from the varying vantage points of telescopes at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California; Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles; and the University of Arizona’s Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory.
This event offers a rare opportunity to see a supermoon, a blue moon and a lunar eclipse at the same time. A supermoon occurs when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit and appears about 14 percent brighter than usual. As the second full moon of the month, this moon is also commonly known as a blue moon, though it will not be blue in appearance. The super blue moon will pass through Earth’s shadow and take on a reddish tint, known as a blood moon.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and a full moon form a near-perfect lineup in space. The total phase of the eclipse will last 1 hour and 16 minutes. The whole process will take more than four hours.
If skies are clear, the U.S. West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii will have the best view of totality, from start to finish. For the eastern U.S. and Canada, a clear view will be limited as the Moon sets and the Sun rises during the early stages of the eclipse.
The last total lunar eclipse occurred Sept. 27-28, 2015. The next total lunar eclipse visible across North America will occur Jan. 21, 2019.
The Jan. 31 eclipse is the third in a series of supermoons in December 2017 and January 2018. Watch the Supermoon Trilogy video.
