GOES-S Next Gen NOAA/NASA Weather Satellite Rolls to Pad, Poised for March 1 Blastoff and Quantum Leap in Weather Forecasting: Watch Live

A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-S weather satellite mission for NASA and NOAA is rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Feb. 28, 2018.  Launch set for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   28 Feb 2018

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – At T minus 1 day, all systems are GO for the March 1 dinnertime liftoff of the NOAA/NASA GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite that will be carried to orbit on a ULA Atlas V rocket from the Florida Space Coast and deliver a quantum leap in weather forecasting for the western United States.

Everything is looking good with the GOES-S spacecraft and Atlas V and we are go for liftoff,” Tim Gasparrini, GOES-S program manager for Lockheed Martin, told Space Up Close during an interview today, Feb. 28, at the KSC press site a day before launch.  

GOES-S was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, Colorado. 

The mission has passed the Launch Readiness Review (LRR) said mission managers from the launch team comprising NASA, NOAA, ULA, Lockheed Martin and the 45^th Space Wing.

Liftoff of the NOAA/NASA GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite is scheduled for Thursday,  March 1, 2018, near sunset at 5:02 p.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from seaside Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The launch window extends for two hours from 5:02 - 7:02 p.m. EST.

It will be delivered to geostationary orbit soaring some 22,200 mi (35800 km) above Earth. 
You can watch the launch via a live broadcast on NASA TV beginning  at 4:30 p.m. March 1 with additional commentary on the NASA launch blog.

You can watch the launch live at NASA TV at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-S weather satellite mission for NASA and NOAA is rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Feb. 28, 2018.  Launch set for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Furthermore, Thursday’s launch weather outlook is rather promising for this next generation weather satellite years in the making.

The latest L Minus 1 day weather forecast shows a 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for Thursday’s near sunset blastoff at launch time, said U.S. Air Force Air Force Meteorologist Kathy Winters with the 45^th Space Wing Weather Squadron on Patrick Air Force Base. 

The primary concerns are for Cumulous Clouds and Ground Winds.

In case of a delay for any reason technical or weather the backup launch opportunity is Friday, March 2 at 5:02 p.m.

The weather forecast is again 80 percent favorable. The primary concern is Cumulous Clouds.

A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-S weather satellite mission for NASA and NOAA rolled out to Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Feb. 28, 2018 and is poised for launch Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

And the liftoff should be spectacular! - Since its targeted for shortly before sunset which is often prime time for witnessing the best and most beautiful skywatching for launches that the space coast has to offer.

So come on down if you can – as so many already have!

GOES-S, which stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–S, is a new and advanced transformational weather satellite that will vastly enhance the quality, speed and accuracy of weather forecasting available to forecasters for Earth’s Western Hemisphere after it becomes operational later this year.

Once it achieves orbit GOES-S will be renamed as GOES-17/GOES West.

“What we want is the complement of 2 imaging spacecraft on orbit and the GOES-17 launch will do that as the second new GOES spacecraft in orbit,” FL, Tim Walsh, acting GOES-R system program director at NOAA told Space UpClose during a recent interview with reporters in the cleanroom with the spacecraft at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fl, where technicians were actively processing the probe to ready it ahead of this week’s thunderous launch. 

“GOES 17 will complete the complement on orbit for NOAA.”

Up close view of nose cone housing NASA/NOAA GOES-S weather satellite atop ULA Atlas V rocket on Feb. 28, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

GOES-S is the twin sister observatory to GOES-R, which launched late in 2016 and recently became operational - and was renamed the GOES-16/GOES East satellite for the eastern US at its geostationary orbit soaring some 22,200 mi (35800 km) above Earth. 

“GOES 17 will become operation in the fall of 2018, “ Walsh stated. “It will give us the equivalent perspective for the western US that we now have for the eastern US using the six onboard instruments namely ABI and GLM, SUVI, EXIS, SEIS and the magnetometer.”

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

GOES-S is the second in the new GOES-R series of America’s most powerful and most advanced next generation geostationary weather observation satellites.  It is designed to last for a 15 year orbital lifetime and will deliver a ‘quantum leap’ in weather forecasting. 

The GOES-R series (including GOES-S) science suite includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), and the Magnetometer (MAG). 

ABI is the primary instrument and will collect 3 times more spectral data with 4 times greater resolution and scans 5 times faster than ever before - via the primary Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument - compared to the current GOES satellites.

The gigantic school bus sized satellite measures  6.1 m x 5.6 m x 3.9 m (20.0 ft x 18.4 ft x 12.8 ft) with a three-axis stabilized spacecraft bus.

It has a dry mass of 2,857 kg (6,299 lbs) and a fueled mass of 5,192 kg (11,446 lbs) at launch.

         

GOES-S will blastoff on a ULA Atlas V in the very powerful 541 configuration, augmented by four solid rocket boosters on the first stage.  The payload fairing is 5 meters (16.4 feet) in diameter and the upper stage is powered by a single-engine Centaur. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer - ken at kenkremer.com

NOAA/NASA GOES-S to provide vastly improved Forecasts and Warnings on Weather, Wildfires & Cyclones for California and Western United States

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –Liftoff of the advanced NOAA/NASA next generation GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite this Thursday, Mar. 1 will provide vastly improved forecasts and warnings on weather, wildfires, tornadoes and cyclones   for California and the western United States all the way out to Hawaii and Guam in ways that will positively impact the lives of everyday people.

Furthermore GOES-S brings an “equivalent perspective” with vastly improved resolution that completely complements the same weather observation upgrade just accomplished for the eastern half of the US with the recently launched GOES-R observatory – now known as GOES-16/GOES East.

Once it achieves orbit GOES-S will be renamed as GOES-17/GOES West.

“What we want is the complement of 2 imaging spacecraft on orbit and the GOES-17 launch will do that as the second new GOES spacecraft in orbit,” FL, Tim Walsh, acting GOES-R system program director at NOAA told Space UpClose during a recent interview with reporters in the cleanroom with the spacecraft at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fl, where technicians were actively processing the probe to ready it ahead of this week’s thunderous launch. 

“GOES 17 will complete the complement on orbit for NOAA.”

GOES-S is the twin sister observatory to GOES-R, which launched late in 2016 and recently became operational - and was renamed the GOES-16/GOES East satellite for the eastern US at its geostationary orbit soaring some 22,200 mi (35800 km) above Earth. 

“GOES 17 will become operation in the fall of 2018, “ Walsh stated. “It will give us the equivalent perspective for the western US that we now have for the eastern US using the six onboard instruments namely ABI and GLM, SUVI, EXIS, SEIS and the magnetometer.”

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Liftoff of the NOAA/NASA GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite is scheduled for March 1, 2018, near sunset at 5:02 p.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The launch window extends for two hours from 5:02 - 7:02 p.m. EST.

GOES-S, which stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–S, is a new and advanced transformational weather satellite that will vastly enhance the quality, speed and accuracy of weather forecasting available to forecasters for Earth’s Western Hemisphere after it becomes operational later this year.

GOES-S was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, Colorado. 

In the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, Tim Walsh, acting GOES-R system program director at NOAA and Dan Lindsey, GOES-R senior scientific advisor at NOAA discuss the advanced weather observation capabilities of NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) with Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose during satellite processing on Jan. 16, 2018. Launch on Atlas V set for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

“We are seeing a revolutionary step forward in performance with 4x better spatial resolution, 3 x as many frequencies or spectral bands, and we receive images 5 x faster,” Walsh said already with GOES-R/GOES-16 compared to the legacy GOES East/West satellite imager technologies “which were created and developed in the mid-1980s.”

“Currently to do a full western hemisphere image with the current imager on orbit today takes 26 minutes. With GOES-R now we can do the same thing in 5 minutes.”

“So it gives us much better severe weather forecasting and now weather forecasting imagery.”

“We hope to start test imaging with GOES-S by around early May, said Walsh. “First we need to raise the temperature of the instruments once on orbit. We will outgas them for several weeks.”

“There is no real difference between this spacecraft GOES-S/GOES 17 and GOES-R/GOES 16.” 

But they will be located at different positions in the equatorial belt to obtain different views.  Together they will be able to image the entire US and regions further out beyond to the east and west to provide coverage of the entire Western Hemisphere.

“GOES 17 will provide imagery that will complement what we have from GOES 16.”

“GOES S will be located at 137 degrees west longitude over the eastern pacific. So at that time we will be able to see the entire United States out to Hawaii, Alaska and even almost to New Zealand.”

“GOES-R/GOES 16 is located at 75 degrees west longitude gives the full Eastern seaboard and CONUS [continental US] coverage,” Walsh explained.

What some examples of where GOES-S/GOES-17 will have the greatest impact?

The biggest advantage of GOES-17 is the coverage over Alaska,” said Dan Lindsey, acting GOES Chief scientist in the Astrotech cleanroom.

“Even though its so far north the resolution of the ABI and the GLM are such that we can see things smaller that we could not see before. Especially like fires, which is a big issue up there. Ice coverage of the rivers and the seas is also a big thing.”

“Also for the west coast of the US. As you all know California had a major wildfire season. With GOES-17 we will have much better resolution and will be able to see smaller fires in California than with the current legacy GOES West.”

“At 137 degrees west longitude it will be closer to California even than the test position of GOES-16 or even the legacy systems.”

Feeding better data into weather models and observing ice flows are also big advances offered by GOES-S.

“Another advantage for GOES 17 and imaging of the eastern Pacific is that is where many of our weather systems come from,” Lindsey explained. “In general, the flow is from west to east across the country.”

“So the better observations we can get in the northeast Pacific, then the better we can do at initializing the weather models. And the models are what the forecasters use to do their day to day forecasts.”

“So the satellite not only provides pictures for a qualitative sense but also quantitate data products that get fed into the models for their initial conditions. therefore, we get better forecasts.”

“Especially we saw the excitement at a recent American Meteorological Society meeting for the  test imagery from data for ice flows from the high latitudes of the Alaskan and Hudson Bay region,” Walsh added.

Hawaii and the eastern Pacific will also be visible from GOES-17 which aren’t visible at all from GOES-16.

“GOES-17 will be perfectly positioned to observe the tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific as GOES 16 does for the Atlantic. GOES 16 can see all the way over to the coast of Africa and the formation of the tropical cyclones and early hurricane formation.”

“GOES-17 will also be able to track volcanic ash that erupts from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska where we had many eruptions in 2017.”

Side view of NASA/NOAA GOES-R next gen weather observation satellite showing solar panels and instruments inside Astrotech Space Operations cleanroom, in Titusville, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES) system consists of a series of geostationary weather observation satellites orbiting more than 22,000 miles above Earth developed for the nation as part of a cooperative joint effort between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

GOES-S is the second in the new GOES-R series of America’s most powerful and most advanced next generation geostationary weather observation satellites.  It is designed to last for a 15 year orbital lifetime and will deliver a ‘quantum leap’ in weather forecasting. 

The GOES-R series (including GOES-S) science suite includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), and the Magnetometer (MAG). 

GOES-S weather observation satellite instrument suite graphic. Credit: NASA/NOAA

How well are the GOES-R/GOES-16 instruments operating so far in orbit?

“So far yes the instruments on 16 are meeting or exceeding expectations. We are very excited,” Walsh told Space UpClose.

 “ABI is the primary instrument that gets most of the imagery and glory along with the GLM. We started ABI development in 2001. So its truly 2010s technology development.”

“And there are two instruments that always point to the sun, SUVI and EXIS - that’s for Ultraviolet (UV) and extreme UV regions. These give us a sense of solar activity so that we can make forecasts in case we get impacted by solar wind or other solar particle hits.”

“Two more instruments are the magnetometer and SEIS which check for impacts on the spacecraft from the sun, and that’s important for its impact on for example communications, GPS support, spacecraft and astronauts operation in Earth orbit.”  

“So, we are an Earth pointing and solar pointing mission.”

“The ABI is a really flexible instrument that can look at different scales. It can look at the full western hemisphere, it can look at CONUS and it can look at 1000 km x 1000 km mesoscale regions. And those are pretty important.”

“We work with the NWS to point at that mesoscale region. And each satellite has the ability to have two of them which can update every minute. And if we overlap them we can update every 30 seconds.”

It also assists with Tornado detection.

“This is really valuable during the hurricane forecasting season, for example like we saw last fall.”

“Using those mesoscale regions for instance we can look at tornadic activity in the springtime in the Midwest and focus in and try to predict what’s going on,” said Walsh  

“The most valuable aspect of the 1 minute imagery is actually before the storms are formed - because you have an environment that is capable of producing supercell thunderstorms which can in turn produce tornadoes,” added Lindsey.

“So with the 1 minute refresh we can actually see individual cumulous clouds that are trying to form. They get up and get blown over by the shear and repeat that cycle.”

“But eventually you get a storm forming – and that’s known as convective initiation. And after the storms form into actual supercell storms then the satellite will be used in concert with the radars we have.”  

“The radars are still the primary tool for issuing the tornado warnings.  So this may not revolutionize tornado warning lead times – but it will help tremendously in the prestorm analysis.”

“So when the storm prediction center issues severe storm watches and their convective outlooks this will help them in evaluating the environment before the storms are formed  and deciding exactly where and when to place these watches.”

The weather forecast shows a 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for Thursday’s near sunset blastoff. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer - ken at kenkremer.com

………….

Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Learn more about the upcoming GOES-S weather satellite launch, SpaceX Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 SES-16/GovSat-1 launches on Jan. 30 & Feb. 6, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL:

Feb 27/28: “GOES-S weather satellite launch, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, ULA Atlas USAF SBIRS GEO 4 missile warning satellite, SpaceX GovSat-1, CRS-14 resupply launches to the ISS, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, , OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale

The NASA/NOAA/Lockheed Martin/Harris GOES-S  team gives a big thumbs up for the dramatic leap in capability this next gen weather observation satellite will provide to the Western US - during media briefing at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL on Jan. 16, 2018. Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

In the Cleanroom with Game Changing GOES-S Next Gen Weather Satellite for Western US - Launching March 1

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of nose cone encapsulation for planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – Launch of the game changing NASA/NOAA next generation GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite offering a “dramatic leap in capability” for the western United States is on track for this week, Thursday, Mar. 1 from the Florida Space Coast and will complete the initial upgrade in the US weather fleet.

GOES-S will thus join twin sister observatory GOES-R, which recently became operational for the eastern US, and thereby complete the equally dramatic three decade leap in weather satellite capability impacting the entire continental US as well as Hawaii and Alaska - from an orbital perch 22,200 mi (35800 km) above Earth.

And Space UpClose recently got an up close look and media briefing about the massive 5.5 ton observatory inside the cleanroom processing facility at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fl, where we media participants dressed in protective gowns to keep the spacecraft free of dirt, grime and germs from the human workers and visitors to prevent any degradation in data gathering by the state of the art science instruments  and keep them in tip top shape.

GOES-S belongs to a new constellation of powerful weather satellites in the advanced GOES-R series that “are bringing the nation a new capability .. that’s a dramatic leap .. to scan the entire hemisphere in about 5 minutes,” the NOAA GOES-S team said during a briefing in the Astrotech cleanroom. “It’s a very exciting time.”

“GOES-S [as part of the advanced GOES-R series] has both weather and space weather detection capabilities!” Tim Gasparrini, GOES-S program manager for Lockheed Martin, told Space Up Close during a cleanroom interview at Astrotech.

Liftoff of the NOAA/NASA GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite is scheduled for March 1, 2018, near sunset at 5:02 p.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The launch window extends for a two hours from 5:02 - 7:02 p.m. EST.

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed by technicians and engineers in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of nose cone encapsulation for planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

GOES-S, which stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–S, is a new and advanced transformational weather satellite that will vastly enhance the quality, speed and accuracy of weather forecasting available to forecasters for Earth’s Western Hemisphere.

“The GOES-S satellite will join GOES-16 and NOAA-20 as NOAA continues to upgrade its satellite fleet,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, in a statement. “The latest GOES addition will provide further insight and unrivaled accuracy into severe weather systems and wildfires in the western United States.”

GOES-S was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, Colorado.  It was flown cross country aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy cargo transport and arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on Dec. 4, 2017.

After touchdown at KSC the 11,400 pound (5100 kg) GOES-S spacecraft was then transported by truck to Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida for some two months of processing by engineers and technicians at Astrotech.  

The team carried out additional testing, check out and verification of the spacecraft systems and science instruments by technicians working inside the huge high bay cleanroom processing facility at Astrotech.  After all that work was satisfactorily completed the probe was encapsulated inside the Atlas rockets payload fairing halves.

Astrotech is located just a few miles down the road from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the KSC Visitor Complex housing the finest exhibits of numerous spaceships, hardware items and space artifacts.

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES) system consists of a series of geostationary weather observation satellites orbiting more than 22,000 miles above Earth developed for the nation as part of a cooperative joint effort between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

GOES-S is the second in the new GOES-R series of America’s most powerful and most advanced next generation geostationary weather observation satellites.  It is designed to last for a 15 year orbital lifetime and will deliver a ‘quantum leap’ in weather forecasting. 

The first satellite in the series called GOES-R went through a similar processing phase at Astrotech as I observed in the Astrotech cleanroom at that time in September 2016.

GOES-R was successfully launched by a ULA Atlas V on Nov. 19, 2016.

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

 “The GOES-R series have both weather and space weather detection capabilities!” Tim Gasparrini told Space UpClose during a cleanroom interview.

Together they will “significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and the nation's economic health and prosperity,” according to a NASA/NOAA description.

The GOES-R series (including GOES-S) science suite includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), and the Magnetometer (MAG). 

Up close view of the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) attached to the top of the NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, 2018. Launch on Atlas V rocket targeted for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

                             

ABI is the primary instrument and will collect 3 times more spectral data with 4 times greater resolution and scans 5 times faster than ever before - via the primary Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument - compared to the current GOES satellites.

So instead of seeing weather as it was, viewers will see weather as it is.

Whereas the current GOES-NOP imagers scan the full hemispheric disk in 26 minutes, the new GOES-ABI can simultaneously scan the Western Hemisphere every 15 minutes, the Continental U.S. every 5 minutes and areas of severe weather every 30-60 seconds. 

GOES satellites are designated with a letter prior to launch and a number once they achieve geostationary orbit.

GOES-R, the first satellite in the series, was renamed GOES-16. GOES-16 recently took its place as NOAA’s GOES-East satellite, “keeping an eye on the continental United States and the Atlantic Ocean.”

Upon reaching geostationary orbit the name will chance and it will be known as GOES-17 and GOES-West. TV viewers are presently accustomed to seeing daily streams of imagery from the GOES-East and GOES-West weather observation satellites currently in orbit.

 GOES-S will be designated GOES-17. After a period of on-orbit test and checkout, GOES-17 will become operational as GOES-West, providing coverage of the western U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean.

The newly operational GOES-17 will join GOES-16/GOES-East to give the Western Hemisphere two next-generation geostationary environmental satellites. Together, GOES-16 and GOES-17 will observe Earth from the west coast of Africa all the way to Guam.

The NASA/NOAA/Lockheed Martin/Harris GOES-S  team gives a big thumbs up for the dramatic leap in capability this next gen weather observation satellite will provide to the Western US - during media briefing at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL on Jan. 16, 2018. Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

What’s the big deal about GOES-R/GOES-S?

As they are starting to with the newly upgraded GOES-16/GOES-East, audiences will notice big changes from GOES-S once it becomes operational because it will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms as regularly as every five minutes or as frequently as every 30 seconds.

 “These images can be used to aid in weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches and warnings, lightning conditions, maritime forecasts and aviation forecasts.”

“It also will assist in longer term forecasting, such as in seasonal predictions and drought outlooks. In addition, space weather conditions will be monitored constantly, including the effects of solar flares to provide advance notice of potential communication and navigation disruptions. It also will assist researchers in understanding the interactions between land, oceans, the atmosphere and climate.”

“This is a very exciting time,” the NOAA GOES-S team explained  during the Astrotech cleanroom briefing.

“This is the culmination of about 15 years of intense work for the great team of NOAA and NASA and our contractors Lockheed Martin and Harris.”  

“We are bringing the nation a new capability.  The GOES program has been around for about 40 years and most every American sees it every night on the weather broadcasts when they see the satellite imagery.  And what’s really exciting is that for the first time in that 40 years we are really end to end replacing the entire GOES system. The weather community is really excited about what we are bringing.”

“It’s a dramatic leap in capability - like moving from black and white TV to HDTV.”

“We will be able to scan the entire hemisphere in about 5 minutes and do things so much faster with double the resolution.”

The gigantic school bus sized satellite is equipped with a suite of six instruments or sensors that are the most advanced of their kind. They will be used for three types of observations: Earth sensing, solar imaging, and space environment measuring.  They will point to the Earth, the Sun and the in-situ environment of the spacecraft.

The suite includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), and the Magnetometer (MAG). 

The two Earth-pointing instruments are on the top of the spacecraft - namely ABI and GLM.

“ABI is the premier instrument on the spacecraft. When you turn on the news and see a severe storm picture, that’s the one it comes from. It takes pictures in the visible as well as the infrared (IR), near infrared (IR),” said Gasparrini.

“It is looking for things like moisture, vegetation, aerosols and fire. So it looks across a broad spectrum to determine the environmental conditions on Earth.” 

ABI offers 3 times more spectral channels with 4 times greater resolution and scans 5 times faster than ever before, compared to the current GOES satellites.

The GOES-S ABI will view the Earth with 16 different spectral bands (compared to five on current/legacy GOES), including two visible channels, four near-infrared channels, and ten infrared channels, according to the mission fact sheet.

It will also carry only the second ever operational lightning mapper ever flown in space - GLM - built by Lockheed Martin.  The first one was on the GOES-R twin sister observatory.  It has a single-channel, near-infrared optical transient detector.

“This is the first lightning mapper in space and at geostationary orbit.”

“GLM takes a picture of a scene on the Earth 500 times per second. And it compares those images for a change in the scene that can detect lightning, using an algorithm,” Gasparrini told me.

“The importance of that is lightning is a precursor to severe weather. So they are hoping that GLM will up to double the tornado warning time.  So instead of 10 minutes warning you get 20 minutes warning,  for example.”  

GLM will measure total lightning (in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground) activity continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions with near-uniform spatial resolution of approximately 10 km.

“The two solar pointing instruments are located on a platform that constantly points them at the sun - SUVI (built by Lockheed Martin) and EXIS.  SUVI looks at the sun in the ultraviolet and EXIS looks at the x-ray wavelengths.”

The instruments work in concert.

“SUVI detects a solar flare on the sun and EXIS measures the intensity of the flare.  As it comes towards the Earth, NOAA then uses the DSCOVR satellite [launched in 2016] as sort of a warning buoy about 30 minutes before the Earth. This gives a warning that a geomagnetic storm is heading toward the Earth.”

“When the storm reaches the Earth, the magnetometer instrument (MAG) on GOES-R then measures the influence of the magnetic storm on the magnetic field of the Earth.”

“Then the SEISS instrument, a charged particle detector, measures the charged particle effect of the storm on the Earth at geostationary orbit.”

“So GOES-R and S have both weather and space weather detection capabilities!” Gasparini elaborated.   

GOES-S weather observation satellite instrument suite graphic. Credit: NASA/NOAA

The gigantic school bus sized satellite measures  6.1 m x 5.6 m x 3.9 m (20.0 ft x 18.4 ft x 12.8 ft) with a three-axis stabilized spacecraft bus.

It has a dry mass of 2,857 kg (6,299 lbs) and a fueled mass of 5,192 kg (11,446 lbs) at launch.

The instruments are very sensitive to contamination and the team is taking great care to limit particulate and molecular contaminants in the cleanroom.  Some of the instruments have contamination budget limits of less than 10 angstroms - smaller than the diameter of a typical molecule.  So there can’t even be a single layer of molecules on the instruments surface after 15 years on orbit.  

Up close visit by Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose to NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, 2018. Launch on Atlas V rocket targeted for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

GOES-S can also multitask according to a NASA/NOAA factsheet.

“It can scan the Western Hemisphere every 15 minutes, the Continental U.S. every 5 minutes and areas of severe weather every 30-60 seconds. All at the same time!”

GOES-S will blastoff on a ULA Atlas V in the very powerful 541 configuration, augmented by four solid rocket boosters on the first stage.  The payload fairing is 5 meters (16.4 feet) in diameter and the upper stage is powered by a single-engine Centaur. 

It will be launched to a Geostationary orbit some 22,300 miles above Earth.

The Atlas V booster has been assembled inside the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at SLC-41 and will be rolled out to the launch pad Wednesday morning, Feb. 28 with the GOES-S weather satellite encapsulated inside the nose cone.

The weather forecast shows a 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for Thursday’s near sunset blastoff. 

 Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer - ken at kenkremer.com

The launch of NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is scheduled for March 1 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft, instruments and launch vehicles for the GOES-R Series program.  Credit: NASA/NOAA

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Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Learn more about the upcoming GOES-S weather satellite launch, SpaceX Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 SES-16/GovSat-1 launches on Jan. 30 & Feb. 6, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL:

Feb 27/28: “GOES-S weather satellite launch, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, ULA Atlas USAF SBIRS GEO 4 missile warning satellite, SpaceX GovSat-1, CRS-14 resupply launches to the ISS, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, , OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale

Space Journalists including Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose observe the NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Tim Gasparinni, GOES-R series program manager for Lockheed Martin, and Ken Kremer/University Today pose with GOES-R revolutionary weather satellite inside Astrotech Space Operations cleanroom, in Titusville, FL, and built by NASA/NOAA/Lockheed Martin/Harris. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com