An advanced weather satellite and a heat shield experiment will be launched on the final flight of an Atlas 5 rocket.
The Atlas 5 rocket will be used to launch the JPSS-2 mission and the LOFTID flight test. According to NASA, it was from the Space Launch Complex 3 in California. You can watch the action at NASA TV or on the live feed below.
JPSS-2 will join a fleet of satellites in a Sun-synchronous orbit from where it will gather data for global weather models by monitoring wildfires, measuring sea surface temperatures, and seeing harmful algal blooms in the ocean. The data will be used by scientists to track extreme weather events.
When JPSS-2 separates from the rocket, it will start its journey back to Earth. Following a deorbit burn, the heat shield will separate from the rocket. LOFTID will demonstrate its capabilities by inflating and reentering Earth. The aim of the experiment is to slow down the craft so that they can be protected from the hot weather caused by atmospheric reentries.
According to NASA, the technology could be further developed to support crewed and large robotic missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan.
The launch of the Atlas 5 rocket was delayed because of a malfunctioning battery. The rocket was cleared for launch five days later after the upper stage battery was replaced.
This will be NASA's 23rd launch on an Atlas 5 rocket, but the last time the space agency will use ULA's Atlas 5 for its launch services program. ULA hopes to launch its new rocket by early next year.
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