The work done on the West Coast is done.
The United Launch Alliance's workhorse rocket lifted off at 4:49 a.m. California time is 1:45 a.m.
The rocket lifted off with a delay due to issues with fueling. The JPSS-2 separated from the rocket's upper stage about 28 minutes after the launch.
A variety of weather and climate data will be gathered once it's up and running. NASA's second inflatable heat shield technology demonstrator, called LOFTID, could be used to land a heavy mission on the red planet.
A powerful new Earth-monitoring satellite is being used to study weather.
The Atlas V did not have any solid rocket boosters. The smallest available for an Atlas V was a 13 foot wide (4 meter) payload fairing for JPSS-2 and LOFTID.
A series of burns from the Atlas V's upper stage kept the two payloads aloft after the rocket's first-stage engine burned out. About 28 minutes after liftoff, JPSS-2 was put into motion. At T+75 minutes, LOFTID is scheduled to deploy into a highly elliptical orbit, then return to Earth for a fiery reentry trial.
This was the last Atlas V launch from the west coast and it symbolizes a shift for ULA's California launch facilities. The company's new rocket, which is expected to debut in the first quarter of 2023, will be upgraded after today's mission.
The shift forward for both technologies is represented by the mission today. The name JPSS-2 doesn't do justice to the capabilities of the satellite. Two other weather satellites are joining JPSS-2 and will be an Earth monitoring powerhouse.
The Suomi-NPP was launched in 2011. The second was followed by the first in the following year. JPSS-1 was formerly known asNOAA-20. Scientists will be able to collect, and better understand, enormous amounts of meteorological data that will improve global weather models.
Jordan Gerth, a meteorologist and satellite scientist for the National Weather Service, said during a pre-launch press briefing that "NOAA 20, Suomi-NPP, and soon JPSS-2 help our meteorologists in meeting the National Weather Service mission for all Americans." JPSS data is used in U.S. and international weather prediction systems.
Gerth used a hypothetical tropical storm as an example of what JPSS-2's scientific instruments will collect.
The VIIRS instrument provides imagery at a spatial resolution of about a quarter mile and can be used to detect overshooting tops. The severity of a storm can be determined by overshooting tops. The center of tropical systems can be detected by VIIRS.
The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) can see through cloud canopies to determine the interior structures of hurricanes. ATMS and the Cross-trackInfrared Sounder will work together to convert temperature and humidity data to 3D representations for atmospheric models.
JPSS-2 will circle the globe 14 times every 24 hours, giving complete coverage of the entire planet twice a day. In addition to its weather work, the satellite will be used to monitor sea ice, ocean color, temperature, and biodiversity shifts, as well as wildfire, floods and even economic recovery efforts in areas affected by natural disasters.
Climate change causes and affects.
For at least seven years, JPSS-2 is intended to gather data. LOFTID won't operate for nearly that long, since it's a low-earth flight test of an inflatable Decelerator.
Hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator is used in LOFTID. A heat shield will be tested during a return through a planetary atmosphere. NASA officials say that expandable heat shields have high potential benefits for the future of spaceflight, potentially allowing more heavy loads to be landed safely on the surface of Mars than is currently possible. The agency will need heavy-duty landing tech to build a research outpost on the Red Planet.
Mission team members will be able to understand the vehicle's fiery return to Earth by using LOFTID. If all goes according to plan, LOFTID is expected to reach a maximum speed of 18,000 mph during its descent, which will end with a parachute-aided splashdown a few hundred miles off the coast of Hawaii.
Joe Del Corso, LOFTID project manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, said during Tuesday's briefing that LOFTID will be taking a number of measurements across a suite of instruments. The fiber optics strain sensor on the nose of the vehicle will allow us to get an aerial map of temperature.
Even if the main vehicle is damaged or destroyed, team members will still have access to the additional data core.
The Atlas V rocket is not ready for retirement yet. All of the Atlas V missions will fly from the Space Coast.
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