goes- e press kit

8/8/2019 GOES- E Press Kit

1/18

7RELEAS NO: -55 --

FOR RELEASE

CONTENTS

General Release ..........1-4GOES-Z mission. 15nstrumentation........... 5ata Acqvisition .. . .. . .. .Spacecraft Description . 10Delta Launch Vehicle .... 10-12Launch Operations......... 2ajor Launch Events....... 13ost Launch Events........14Delta/GOES. E Team ........4-17Contractors147

National Oceanic andAtmospheric AdministrationRockville, MD 20852(301) 443-8243

National Aeronautics andSpace AdministrationWashington, nDC. 20546(202) 755-8331


2/18

National Aeronautics andSpace AdministrationWashington DC 20546AC 202 755-8370

For ReleaseDick McCormackNASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. IMMEDIATE(Phone: 202/755-4321)

Bill BrennanNOAA Public Affairs, Rockville, Md.(Phone: 301/443-8243)

RELEASE NO: 81-55

IMPROVED NOAA WEATHER SATELLITE SCHEDULED FOR NASA LAUNCH

The second in a series of three improved Geostationary Oper-ational Environmental Satellites will be launched by NASA no ear-lier than Thursday, May 14, for the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration (NOAA).

GOES-E, to be designated GOES-5 once in geostationary orbitat about 35,792 kilometers (22,240 miles) altitude, will be posi-tioned at 85 degrees west longitude, ultimately to replace anolder GOES-type satellite at 75 degrees west, monitoring theeastern halt of the United States and Canada, all of Central andSouth America and much of the Atlantic Ocean.

April 27, 1981

-more-


3/18

-2-

As NOAA's "GOES East" satellite, the new spacecraft whenoperational will watch hurricane development and movement in theCaribbean Sea, locate Gulf Stream System currents for marineinterests, warn Florida citrus growers of approaching crop-killing frosts, and provide government and private weathercasterswith a variety of information crucial to the accurate forecastingof the weather.

A twin satellite, GOES-4, is performing similar services forthe western halt ot the United States and Canada and much of theeastern Pacific Ocean from its position at 135 degrees west abovethe equator.

NOAA has maintained operational geostationary spacecraft atthese locations for the past six years as part of its responsi-bility to observe and monitor the Earth's weather and some of itsresources, as well as some solar activity. The Commerce Depart-ment agency also operates a two-spacecraft polar-orbiting satel-lite system which provides imagery and data of the entire Earth'ssurface.

Aboard GOES-E at liftoff from NASA's launch complex 17-A atCape Canaveral Air Force Station will be a promising new instru-ment, the Visible Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometric AtmosphericSounder (VAS).

-more-


4/18

-3-

This instrument, first carried into space con GOES-4 lastSeptember, not only provides the traditional visual imagery ofthe Earth's surface and cloud cover familiar to most televisionweather program viewers -- as well as infrared sea surface tem-perature data -- it also records atmospheric temperatures and theamount, distribution and movement of water vapor at variouslevels. These latter functions, atmospheric soundings, are beingresearcned by NASA.

The VAS instrument detects and measures reflected sunliqhtand can sense infrared energy in 12 spectral bands, 11 more thanthe radiometer carried on earlier GOES satellites. This expandedcapability gives the VAS its sounding ability. At its presentstage of development, however, the new instrument cannot obtainsounding data and provide imagery simultaneously.

Hughes Aircraft Co. built both the spacecraft and the VASinstrument, as well as the satellite's Data Collection Systeminstrumentation and its Telemetry, Tracking and Command Sub-system. The Data Collection System collects and relays environ-mental data back to Earth from more than 1,500 existing remoteplatforms on land, at sea and carried aloft by balloons and air-craft, while the telemetry subsystem performs a variety of com-munications functions.

Also included in the spacecraft's instrumentation package isa Space Environmental Monitor which obtains measurements of solaractivity, detects solar flares and measures solar wind intensityand the strength and direction of the Earthns magnetic field.

-more-


5/18

-4-

Elements of this subsystem were built by Ball Aerospace,Panametrics, Inc., and Ford Aerospace and Communications Corp.

GOES-E cost about $20 million, and its launch by a Delta3914 launch vehicle will cost an additional $16 million. NASAfunded the development of the VAS instrument, while NOAA is pay-ing for the VAS on GOES-E, plus satellite construction and launchcosts.

Once checked out by NASA, the new spacecraft will be underthe control of NOAA's National Earth Satellite Service, whichwill make the imagery and digital data available to users world-wide through its existing distribution network.

The sounding data from the VAS instrument is not yet avail-able operationally. NOAA is working with NASA to determine howthe atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles could be pro-vided to operational users such as the National Weather Servicein the late 1980s.

(END OF GENERAL RELEASE; BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS.)

-more-

--74


6/18

-5-

GOES-E MISSIONGOES-E is the seventh spacecraft in the SMS/GOES series --Geostaticnary Operational Environmental Satellites placed into

Earth synchronous orbits to provide near continual, high resolu-tion visual and infrared imaging over large areas of North andSouth America and surrounding oceans at least every 30 minutes;to collect environmental data from up to 10,000 remote observingplatforms on land, in the ocean and in the air; to measure ener-getic solar particle flux, X-rays and the strength of the Earth'smagnetic field; and, to broadcast centrally prepared weather andsatellite information.GOES-E, like its predecessor GOES-4, contains an experimen-tal, advanced type of meteorological sensor which not only ob-serves the traditional visible light and infrared images of cloudformations and motion, but also, on command, temperature varia-

tions with light in the atmosphere and will map the distributionof water vapor in the air. This instrument is called the VisibleInfrared Spin-Scan Radiometric Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) and wasshown to have significant meteorological use as a geosynchronoustemperature sounder during its initial experimental runs with tieGOES-4 VAS between October 1980 and January 1981.Two GOES satellites presently are operational: one at 135degrees west longitude, observing North America and the PacificOcean to west of Hawaii; and a second at 75 degrees west, observ-ing both North and South America and the Atlantic Ocean. They areat altitudes of approximately 35,800 kilometers (22,200 miles)and are in circular orbit traveling at about 11,000 kilometers

per hour (6,830 miles per hour).INSTRUMENTATION

The spacecraft on-board subsystems include:The Visible Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometric AtmosphericSounder (VASL, an instrument incorporating the functions of theVisible Infrarea Spin-Scan Radiometer (VISSR) flown on GOES-1, 2and 3, with a new ability for geostationary satellites: atmos-pheric sounding. GOES-D, renamed GOES-4, was launched with a VASlast September.The VAS has the potential for several advantages over thepresently operational geostationary and polar-orbiting satelliteinstruments as regards their use in meso-scale meteorology andforecasting. Advantages over the VISSR are (1) multispectralimaging -- VAS has 12 infrared channels (with 10-bit radiometricresolution) whereas VISSR has but one infrared channel (with an8-bit resolution); and, (2) the ability to use these channels toderive temperature and moisture profiles and fields. Addition-nally, the VAS is programmable.

-more-


7/18

IIDA' _ _ _ _ _ _


8/18

-7-

The area of interest (latitude belt), the data of interest(VISSR imagery, multispectral imagery or sounding data) and thefrequency ot coverage are selected easily by ground command. Ifmultispectral imagery is chosen, as many as four nfrared imagescan be obtained simultaneously. If sounding data are desired,repetitive sampling is required. Sounding from geostationaryorbit affords several advantages over sounding from a polar-orbiting satellite: constant surveillance, a consistent viewinggeometry, better determination of temporal and spatial gradients,easier synchronization with radiosondes and, if desired, synopticlarge area coverage. On the other hand, the polar orbiters arerequired to obtain data over the entire Earth to aid weatherforecasting for several days in advance,An experimental VAS data handling system was built under theaegis of NASA's VAS Demonstration Program. The success of thissystem already has spawned a joint NOAA/NASA project called Cen-tralized Storm Information System. Its future development and thedirection of operational meso-meteorological systems in general,

will be influenced by the outcome of the VAS demonstrations onGOES-4 and E.The Space Environmental Monitor (SENI) includes a magneto-meter, a solar x-ray telescope and an energetic particle monitor,designed to provide direct quantitative measurements of the im-portant effects of solar activity for use in real time solarforecasting and subsequent research. This subsystem, which de-tects unusual solar flares with high levels of radiation, mea-sures the intensity of solar winds, and measures the strength anddirection of the Earth's magnetic field, is the same as on pre-vious GOES satellites plus the addition of the High Energy Protonand Alpha Detector (HEPAD) to expand the dynamic range. The

HEPAD is also on GOES-4.The Data Collection System (DCS) provides communicationsrelay from data collection platforms on land, at sea and in theair to the Command and Data Acquisition Station (CDA), and theinterrogation of platforms from the CDA via the satellite.The Telemetry, Trackin5 and Command (TTC) subsystem uses S-band frequencies for transmission of vide ideo data to theCDA, for relay of "stretched" data from the CDA via the space-craft to facilities operated by NOAA's National Earth SatelliteService in Suitland, Md., and for transmission of weather fac-simile data to local ground stations equipped to receive S-band

automatic picture transmission (APT) data; UHF for transmissionsfrom data collection platforms to the spacecraft, and then to theCDA on the S-band; and S-band for commanding the spacecraft, fortelemetry, and for transmitting the space environment monitoringdata.

-more-


9/18

-8-

DATA ACQUISITION AND DISTRIBUTIONUnprocessed VAS data is transmitted via the S-band system tothe 18.3-meter (60-foot) dish antenna at the Wallops, Va., CDA.These data are received during the 18 degrees of spacecraft rota-tion when the instrument views the Earth. The CDA processes theincoming data in a synchronizer/data buffer, which reduces thedata rate about 16 to 1 for simplification of data transmission.The CDA processes and retransmits this "stretched" data back tothe satellite during the remaining 342 degrees of rotation of thespacecraft. The lower resolution infrared data are formatted inspecial computers for analog transmission via 3 kHz telephonelines directly to the Satellite Field Services Stations and tothe Central Data Distribution Facility.The stretched data is received at the National Earth Satel-lite Service facility, which relays it via a dedicated microwavelink to the Central Data Distribution Facility nearby. There thedata are formatted and "sectorized" into a form suitable fortransmission via 3 kHz telephone lines to the Satellite FieldServices Station.Sectorizers at the CDDF extract from the total high-resolu-tion "full disk" data sections of specified geographical areasand resolution of 0.9, 1.9 or 3.7 km (1/2, 1 or 2 mi.). Seven1/2-mile resolution sectors and/or four 1-mile resolution sectorscover the contiguous 48 states. Also, a standard 2-mile resolu-tion covers the western United States (including Alaska) and theeastern Pacific to about 170 degrees east. These sectors areavailable for each picture every 30 minutes, or more frequentlywhen the satellite is operating in a limited scan mode duringsevere weather events.Infrared data also can be sectorized at the CDDF to provideequivalent infrared imagery with the same geographical coverageas the visible sectors. The CDDF and Wallops have the capabilityof surface and cloud temperature (infrared) enhancement foremphasis of specified features in the imagery.The sectors are produced by a digital device called a sec-torizer. It selects smaller sectors from the "full disk" imageand subsequently makes an analog transmission to the SatelliteField Services Stations and other users.Satellite Field Services Stations are near Washington, D.C.,

at Camp Springs, Md.; Miami, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; San Fran-cisco, Calif.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Anchorage, Alaska. Theyreceive a standard "menu" of imagery on a half hour or more fre-qucnt basis, day and night, for analysis and retransmission toNational Weather Service offices and other users via dedicatedtelephone lines.

-more-


10/18

GOESSATEIu vl SBAND BICONESA ILLLITI OMNI ANTENNASBAND HiGHGAIN ANTENNA UHF ANTENNA

THERMALBARRIERDESPU ARVAS SECTI VAS MAGNETOMETERSUNSHADE -h/

AXIALA THRUSTER

X-RAYSENSOR RADIALTHRUSTERS

iiOEARTPES SUEN SENSSRRS

EPS EPS TELESCOPEDOME


11/18

-10-

SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTIONThe spacecraft is 215 centimeters (85 inches) in diameter,and its overall height is 312 cm (123 in.). The weight of GOES-Ewill be 836 kilograms (1,841 pournds) when launched by th. Delta3914 booster, and 397 kg (875 lb.) at beginning of mission life

in orbit after firing and ejecting its self-contained solidmotor.The spinning, drum-shaped base of the spacecraft houses the

Earth, Sun and X-ray sensors, the energetic particle monitor, andaxial and radial thrusters for attitude control. Solar panelsare bonded on the entire exterior surface of the drum sides, anda magnetometer is mounted on a boom situated at the edge of thedrum. Contained within, but protruding from, the base at thecenter is the pri ary instrument, the VAS, and its sunshade.The S-band high gain antenna, the UHF antenna and the S-bandomni-directional antenna are mounted atop the VAS housing and are

mechanically despun by an electric motor so as to pointat the

Earth while the base is spinning for stability.

THE DELTA LAUNCH VEHICLEThe GOES-E mission will be the 154th for Delta which wasintroduced into NASA service in 1960. Since that time, Delta,built by the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., HuntingtonBeach, Calif., has placed into orbit the majority of U.S. non-military communications, weather and scientific satellites, in-cluding those of foreign governments and international organiza-

tions. The three-stage Delta 3914 configuration, whichwill be

used to launch GOES-E mission, has the following characteristics:Height: 35.36 m (116 ft.)Maximum Diameter (without attached solids): 2.4 m (8 ft.)

Liftoff Weight: 190,631 kg (42U,270 lb.)First Stage Thrust (average with five solids burning):2,947,245 newtons (662,600 lb.)

-more-

*,~.4.


12/18

First StageThe Delta first stage is the extended long-tank Thor, pro-duced by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. The RS-27 liquid fuelengine is built by Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International.Height: 21.3 m (70 ft.)Diameter: 2.4 m (8 ft.)Propellants: RP-1 kerosene as the fuel and liquid oxygen(LOX) as the oxidizerLiftoff Thrust: 912,000 N (205,000 lb.)The first stage also includes nine TX-526-2 Castor IV strap-on solid-propellant rocket motors produced by Thiokol Chemical

Corp. Five of the solids ignite at liftoff. The oTher four areignited after the first five burn out. The motor:., have the fol-lowing features:Height: 11.3 m (37 ft.)Diameter: 101.6 cm (40 in.)Liftoff Thrust: 377,1A5 N (84,790 lb.)

Second StageThe second stage also is provided by McDonnell Douglas,utilizing liquid-fueled TR-201 pressure fed engines provided byTRW, which can be restarted in space. The second stage includesthe Delta Inertial Guidance System (DIGS) which controls theflight of the first and second stages, and has the followingcharacteristics:Height: 7 m (23 ft.)Diameter: 140 cm (55 in.)Propellants: Liquid, consisting of Aerozine-50 fuel and

nitrogen tetroxide oxidizerThrust: 43,590 N (9,800 lb.)

-more-


13/18

-12-

Third StageThe DelLa third stage includes the spin-stabilized TE-364-4solid fuel movor built by Thiokol Chemical Corp., with the fol-lowing characteristics:Height: 1.8 m (6 ft.)Diameter: 94 cm (37 in.)Thrust: 66,987 N (15,060 lb.)

LAUNCH OPERATIONSNASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Deployable Payloads Oper-ations Directorate is responsible to the Goddard Space Flight

Center, Greenbelt, Md., Delta Projects Office, for the assembly,checkout and launch of Delta 154. The Delta Project Office, inturn, is responsible to the Office of Space Transportation Opera-tions at NASA Headquarters for the technical management of theDelta Program.The Delta tirst stage and interstage adapter were erected onPad A at Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station onJan. 29. The nine Castor IV solid strap-on rocket motors were at-tached to the base of the first stage between Jan. 30 and Feb. 2.The second stage was erected and mated on Feb. 3.The GOES-E spacecraft arrived Feb. 4 and was checked out and

tested in Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It wasmoved to the Delta Spin Test Facility on Feb. 25. There the apo-gee motor was installed, the reaction control system was fueledwith hydrazine and the satellite was mated with the Delta thirdstage. The mated spacecraft assembly is scheduled to be moved toComplex 17 on March 11. The payload shroud which will protectthe spacecraft on its flight through the atmosphere will be matedseveral days before launch to complete assembly of the flightvehicle.

-more-


14/18

w o o'0 N H Ch t- 0% 0't H 0h Co N 0D NJ: rn o CD s N 4 'o tn H () N r N2 - C - ko5 % . r- ., r D 0H HD r- c- ON 0 to0o co co co 1o to

H H C N N N N N ms (V )>143C.)0

a N N 0 I 0D rN co 0 0 t o l 0 co HH N 0 0 N a% tn ro %' to ton an NC 0 v w H H v to to co cO co (# mH q CN N N 'D 0 N N N N NH-4 H H H H- H H N%4 N

U)L4 0 N () Cm a% %D CO LO M 0 m %O 0D '. O'Z . * to to co N a% N IV N C H NO 4J '.qV tn 0 Nri COo vH w w % % % % % % vUw tpE N r- - co co co

H- 'UHC 00 to a o0 : o m0 Q D O 1- a% ts t- co co a

En a) 0 el v 1- r %O r- un a m m m r- aOW C'. m 1 0 0 N 0S N CN CO c00 - S S S % %4 vH IV t o tot toE-4

w 0 0 1 N N OD m aO H '.0D (V) 1 N O) H 0* v o H Ns '. 10 '0 10 1D N ON H H H H H H H H H N

o :4 HE-i4N 0 No4 rN 1o aN N 0 0 0 ) N H m N 0

C 4) r' H H H H H H HCD

4) 4) .-4 .-4 .- 4 .- 1 .-4 .,-I . .4 .- .- .4 .4 ..O to E E E E rz rz E E E E

4 CDs 1VrH N- sr N m N s tn rN 0a mV" -** .. U N H H .v C' v'H N N . .* * H N .. *m C' OD) Cos N N C') orNS N N (N

C -4 4 4 Cq

4' c 4i v 44 0" 4) 0 4ai) 0 ) -4 44 4) 4-a 'U ) 4) .- I :O -- 0 H 44 ol 0 4O (a ED 4) 0 UC 43 C 0 0 'U C 43 43 (aU *-4 C 14wJ *4 1 U) 4 43 0 U) 43 C 4 ('U~ C D U) 0) U V U) 0'm 0" m W U *.- c I- m 4)

I- VC 4) 4) 0 4-VC U)to) U) 0 a) cO 43 VI U 4a-a ~ 0 a) 4)V V V 00- a) 'j- 4) 0- *-4 0" a) 4*- *4 *4 *- U43 t-D 43H U) 43 N C43 'U 'U 4aC H H H C a)- . 4)C ( I : I EU C 4 43 'UO 0 0 0 0 r0 U) w 0" O Jo U 0 N U) U4) '.

-H U U) En U) u U NU(Ca c U U la C)VJ VJ -4 4J) Dai - C -I r4 C 4 rO rO 44) C > 4V *. - 1 U) *-4 U- C- UU ) *.- *.-> 0" - 0 0 '- 'U 4) 4) *.-4 4) s 04

H N-4 ru 1S4 rL4 U)4 U) cn


15/18

POST LAUNCH EVENTSThe achieved velocity of 36,046 km/hr (22,398 mph) placesthe spacecraft in a transfer orbit, with an apogee of 49,343 km

(30,667 mi.) and a perigee of 167 km (104 mi.). An on-board.motorwill be fired on a later apogee to circularize the orbit near itshighest point. Its final velocity will be about 11,066 km/hr(6,876 mph), completing one orbit every 24 hours and thus remain-ing above the same spot on the equator at 35,811 km (22,252 mi.)altitude.

DELTA/GOES-E TEAM

NOAA/NESSDavid S. Johnson Assistant Aaministrator forSatellites, NOAAHarold W. Yates Acting Technical DirectorE. Larry Heacock Ditector of Systems IntegrationJ. Gordon Vaeth Acting Director, OperationsArthur Schwalb Chief, Oceanic and Meteoro-

logical Satellite SystemsEdward W. Bisone GOES Spacecraft ManagerJames C. Fischer Payload CooLdinatorThomas J. Karras Manager, Satellite Operational

Control Center and ActingChief, Satellite OperationsDivision

Gary K. Davis GOES-E Operations ReadinessTeam Leader

Everitt W. KendaAl Manager, Command and DataAcquisition Station(Wallops Island)

William C. Callicott Chief, Information ProcessingDivision

Donald C. Winner Chief, Satellite ServicesDivision

-more-


16/18

-15-

NASA HeadquartersDr. Anthony J. Calio Associate Administrator

for Space and TerrestrialApplications

Samuel W. Keller Deputy Associate Administratorfor Space and TerrestrialApplications

L. R. Greenwood Director, EnvironmentalObservation DivisionW. P. Bishop Deputy Director, Environmental

Observation DivisionR. J. Arnold Program Manager, Operational

Meteorological SatellitesT. Perry Program Manager, Geostationary

Operational EnvironmentalSatellites

S. G. Tilford Chief, Atmospneric ProcessesBranch

J. C. Dodge Manager, Severe Storms anaLocal Weather Research Program

Dr. Stanley I. Weiss Associate Aaministratorfor Space TransportationOperations

Joseph B. Mahon Director, Expendable LaunchVehicles Program

Peter Eaton Program Manager, DeltaLaunch VehicleRobert E. Smylie Associate Administratorfor Tracking and Data

AcquisitionGoaaard Space Flight CenterA. Thomas Young DirectorJohn H. McElroy Deputy DirectorWilliam C. Keithley Director of Projects-Paul A. . owatt AocAiat Di toir. f or GOES

and Delta

-more-1 ! aS-


17/18

-16-

Goddara Space Flight Center (cont'd.)David W. Grimes Delta Project ManagerWilliam Russell Deputy Delta Project Manager,

TechnicalFrank Laurence Delta Mission Integration

ManagerRobert Pickard Project Manager, GOES-ERichard Wirth Deputy Project Manager,

TechnicalAugust Wessels Deputy Project Manager,

ResourcesW. H. Farthing Science ManagerArthur C. Clarke Spacecraft ManagerJohn Lahzun Assistant Spacecraft ManagerWilliam C. Bryant Mission Operations ManagerRalph Bannin Network Operations ManagerKermit Blaney Network Support ManagerMichael Prokopchak Mission Support ManagerLarry Rouzer Instrument ManagerKennedy Space CenterRichard G. Smith DirectorThomas S. Walton Director, Cargo OperationsCharles D. Gay Director, Deployable Payloads

OperationsWayne L. McCall Chief, Delta OperationsD. C. Sheppard Chief, Automated Payloads

DivisionJohn Dunn Spacecraft Coordinator

-more-


18/18

-17-

Hughes Aircraft Co.Albert D. Wheelon Vice President/Group Executive,

Space and Communications GroupC. Richard Jones Manager, NASA DivisionMarvin S. Mixon Manager, Metsat Programs,

NASA DivisionLouis R. Fermelia Manager, GOES Program

CONTRACTORS

McDonnell Douglas Delta launch vehicleAstronautics Co.

Huntington Beach, Calif.Hughes Aircraft Co. GOES-E spacecraftSpace and Communications GroupEl Segundo, Calif.Hughes Aircraft Co. VAS instrumentSanta Barbara Research CenterSanta Barbara, Calif.Ball Aerospace SEM instrumentBoulder, Colo.Panametrics, Inc. SEM instrumentBoston, Mass.Ford Aerospace and SEM instrumentCommunications Corp.

Palo Alto, Calif.Hughes Aircraft Co. TCC subsystem andHughes Technology Division DCS systemSpace and Communications GroupEl Segundo, Calif.

-end-

goes- e press kit

Documents