An illustration of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). JPSS is a collaborative program in between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. JPSS-2 is NOAAs next-generation operational Earth observation program that gets and disperses worldwide environmental information mainly from multiple polar-orbiting satellites. The payload fairing that secured the JPSS-2 satellite throughout the very first minutes of climb rejected as expected. With splashdown just over two hours after launch, LOFTID is unique in that all operations will take place within a few hours of launch.
An illustration of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). JPSS-2 is NOAAs next-generation functional Earth observation program that gets and disperses international ecological information primarily from multiple polar-orbiting satellites.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite, with NASAs Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology presentation along for the trip, took off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this early morning, November 10! Powered by 860,000 pounds of thrust from the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rockets RD-180 engine, the launch took place at 1:49 a.m. PST.
Around a minute into flight, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket went beyond the speed of sound a, and quickly thereafter reached Max-Q– the moment of optimum vibrant pressure on the rocket.
The JPSS-2 satellite launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket at 1:49 a.m. PST on November 10, 2022. Credit: NASA TV
Booster engine cutoff happened on time, the first and 2nd phases separated as prepared, and the Centaur second phase main engine began its burn on schedule. The payload fairing that safeguarded the JPSS-2 satellite during the first minutes of ascent rejected as anticipated. The second stages primary engine burned for just over 12 minutes, taking the spacecraft toward the Equator and to low-Earth orbit.
The United Launch Alliance Centaur upper phase achieved the wanted sun-synchronous, polar low-Earth orbit for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 satellite simply over 28 minutes into the flight.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite with NASAs Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) as a secondary payload, stands all set to take off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on November 10. Credit: NASA/Liz Wilk
Once in low-Earth orbit, the Centaur carried out a deorbit burn, jettisoned the main payload adapter, and put Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator ( LOFTID) on a reentry trajectory enabling it to demonstrate the inflatable aeroshells capability to decrease and make it through re-entry.
Right after the group got a signal from the JPSS-2 satellite. NOAAs latest satellite will support essential projections for severe weather events, feed daily weather condition designs, and display climate modification.
An artists rendering of the JPSS-2 satellite, which will be renamed NOAA-21 when in orbit. Credit: NOAA
Every night and every day, polar-orbiting satellites circle the Earth lots of times, collecting data that feed weather report and assist us understand extreme weather and climate modification. These sophisticated weather condition satellites comprise NOAAs Joint Polar Satellite System, which started monitoring the Earth in 2011 and will continue into the 2030s.
The Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite is part of a long history of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) and NASA satellites that date back to 1960, when the first weather condition satellite, TIROS-1 released from Cape Canaveral in Florida. JPSS-2 will be followed over the next decade by 2 more almost similar satellites, JPSS-3 and JPSS-4, which will continue to offer data used by NOAAs National Weather Service to anticipate weather condition three to seven days in advance.
JPSS-2 is about the size of a sedan at 14 feet tall by 7 feet wide, and it weighs 5,567 pounds– about the weight of an adult male rhinoceros. It is powered by solar panels that harness the Suns energy and its length stretches to 35 feet when its solar selection is released.
The satellite features 4 extremely sophisticated instruments to measure weather condition and climate conditions in the world: The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sees through clouds like an X-ray and can view the structure of the environment beneath those clouds and within storms; the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) procedures in the infrared and noticeable part of the spectrum and can image typhoons, floods, dust storms, cloud patterns, ocean color, and assist find and map wildfires; the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) interacts with ATMS to take in-depth measurements of the atmospheric conditions required to create severe weather report days ahead of time; and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) includes sensing units to track the concentration of ozone in the environment and step sulfur dioxide and other aerosols produced from volcanoes and particulates from wildfires.
As JPSS-2 makes its method to a polar Earth orbit, NASAs rideshare innovation presentation, NASAs Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), will descend back to Earth and land in the Pacific Ocean. With splashdown simply over two hours after launch, LOFTID is distinct in that all operations will take place within a few hours of launch. LOFTID will show how the inflatable aeroshell, or heat shield, can decrease and survive re-entry in conditions relevant to numerous prospective applications, whether landing people on Mars, new objectives to Venus and Titan, or return of heavier payloads and samples from low-Earth orbit.
NASAs LOFTID is handled by Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, with contributions from Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and multiple U.S. small companies that contributed to the hardware. NASAs Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for NASA oversight of launch operations.