Conference 7.286::space

RELEASE: 91-96 (6/25/91)

        Preliminary data estimates from a NASA satellite indicate a
4,800-mile-long cloud of sulfur dioxide has spread across the
tropical Northern Hemisphere from the major eruption of Mount
Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines.  Research by Dr. Arlin Krueger,
an atmospheric scientist at NASA's  Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., indicates the cloud has drifted 4,800 miles since
the June 16, 1991, eruption.

        The data was obtained from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping
Spectrometer (TOMS), an instrument on the NIMBUS-7 satellite that
measures ozone levels and monitors sulfur dioxide emissions.  TOMS's
mapping capability makes it possible to observe major volcanic
eruptions, then track the plumes and measure the sulfur dioxide
output during eruptions.  In the atmosphere, the gas reacts with
water to form a sulfuric acid aerosol.

        Sulfur dioxide is a toxic gas known best as a major cause of
air pollution.  Volcanic aerosols smaller than those produced by
Pinatubo have been shown to have small, but measurable effects on
regional climate.  The effects of the Pinatubo cloud will be
important not only in assessing the impact volcanoes can have on
climate, but in testing and modifying climate models as well.

        "What people can expect this fall are rosy sunsets as a result
of aerosol particles produced from the cloud," Krueger said.  "There
also is a possibility that the cloud will reflect back into space
some of the sunlight that would have reached the ground, resulting
is a small change in the heat balance of the Earth," he added.

        In terms of sulfur dioxide emissions, the Mount Pinatubo
eruption may be two times larger than the eruption of El Chichon
volcano in southern Mexico in April 1982, making Mount Pinatubo
possibly the largest eruption this century.

        The TOMS has monitored and measured ozone levels since 1978.
Another TOMS is scheduled to be launched on a Soviet Meteor-3
satellite on Aug. 15, 1991.  The TOMS program is managed by Goddard
Space Flight Center for NASA's Office of Space Science and
Applications, Washington, D.C.
 

Article         1829
From: [email protected] (GEORGE LOBSENZ)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.usa,clari.tw.science,clari.tw.space
Subject: Possible loss of hurricane-tracking capability by 1993
Date: 25 Jul 91 19:24:22 GMT
  
	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The nation faces the loss of critical
hurricane-tracking capability by early 1993 due to continuing
problems in the government's effort to launch a new weather satellite,
congressional analysts said Thursday. 

	At a House hearing, the analysts said the possible loss of
weather forecasting pictures was a growing concern because of
increasing doubts about NASA's ability to meet a December 1992 launch
date for putting the new weather satellite into orbit. 

	In view of that uncertainty, the analysts recommended the
National Weather Service go ahead with alternative arrangements --
such as borrowing European or Japanese satellites -- to assure
continued forecasting ability until the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration straightens out technical problems with the new
satellite. 

	The Government Accounting Office analysts said the need to
proceed with contingency plans was critical because the sole U.S.
weather satellite now in orbit is expected to exceed its design life
by February 1992. 

	With luck, the aging satellite, known as Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellite-7, or GOES-7, could remain
functional for the next several years, the analysts said. 

	But they noted that even without any catastrophic equipment
failure, the satellite will run out of fuel by June 1992 and begin
drifting from its position over the equator. 

	``Useful imagery could still be obtained for several years,
but critical functions such as hurricane tracking could be affected
after about eight months and the data would be useless for analyses
within 14 months,'' the GAO said in a report to the House Science,
Space and Technology Committee. 

	Several members of the House science panel said they shared
GAO's concerns about NASA's ability to meet its launch schedule and
suggested weather service officials could not afford to find out if
NASA would deliver on time. 

	``Lives could very well be on the line,'' said Republican Rep.
Tom Lewis, who represents hurricane-prone Florida. 

	And Rep. James Scheuer, D-N.Y., said even if NASA could meet a
December 1992 launch date, a rush job could result in a satellite that
did not work, exacerbating the situation. 

	The same point was made by Mark Gebicke, chief GAO
investigator on NASA issues, in urging weather service officials to
pursue contingency plans involving temporary use of European or
Japanese satellites as a ``stop-gap'' measure. 

	``We would like to relieve the schedule pressure from (NASA)
to make sure we do it right,'' Gebicke said. 

	In testimony before the House science panel, NASA officials
expressed optimism they could meet the tentatively scheduled December
1992 launch date for the new weather satellite, which is known as
GOES-NEXT. 

	They said problems with some of the satellite's wiring were
being corrected and that testing was underway to resolve other
technical glitches holding up the launch of GOES-NEXT, which is
already three years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of
dollars over budget. 

	However, officials with the NASA contractor responsible for
fixing the satellite equipment acknowledged there were continuing
questions about infrared detectors and that other problems likely
would pop up in the course of the testing program. 

	``It is highly probable that additional issues will be discovered 
in these tests,'' said Louis Giuliano, president of ITT Defense, which is 
in charge of the satellite equipment testing program. 

	Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the parent agency for the National Weather Service,
said there was intensified concern within NOAA over ``the
credibility'' of NASA's launch schedule. 

	As a result, Thomas Pyke, assistant NOAA administrator for
satellite and information services, said his agency was evaluating
several options in a so-called ``No-GOES'' contingency plan that would
involve borrowing European or Japanese satellites to give NASA more
time to iron out the bugs in GOES-NEXT. 

	Pyke said the Europeans already had complied with a NOAA
request that they move one of their satellites further into the
Atlantic to give U.S. weather officials some additional forecasting
capability. 

	And he said NOAA and State Department officials had recently
traveled to Japan to discuss borrowing one of their satellites for
temporary positioning over the United States. 

	However, Pyke said NOAA had not yet decided to pursue any specific 
contingency plans.  He said a decision would be made within weeks. 

    Do you suppose they will have to change the satellite's name to
    GOES-AFTER, to reflect having to borrow a satellite in between the
    current one and the next one? :-)
    
    Dave Hazel

    According a friend working at Goddard, GOES-NOT would be more appropriate.
    
    The management foul-ups are "Hubblesque" (if I may coin a word).  The
    IR-scanner doesn't work at all, wiring faults, and way behind schedule.
    
    His personal name reads "Satellites 'R' Us - Hubble and GOES-NEXT our
    speciality".    I wonder how one organization can produce a winner
    like GRO, but fail equally well with HST (or GOES-NEXT).  Then I recall
    VMS and TRAX (or VAX and PRO).  Different teams produce vastly
    different results - and top management doesn't really seem to be on top
    of things.
    
    - dave

  I realize that there is probably some obvious reason why this can't be done,
but considering that the base note was 1985, couldn't they have built one or
two of the older simpler type and launched it on a Delta or Atlas by now? 

  Or couldn't they have bought one from someone else and launched it?

  Seems that these things should be coming as close as we can get to a dime
a dozen by now.

  George

Article         1574
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.weather,clari.news.gov.usa
Subject: European satellite moved to help U.S. weather monitoring
Date: 2 Aug 91 22:52:51 GMT 
 
	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A European weather satellite has been
moved closer to the United States to provide improved monitoring of
Atlantic Ocean storms until problems with the U.S. satellite program
are worked out, federal officials said Friday. 

	European Space Agency technicians in Germany recently
completed moving the METEOSAT-3 satellite westward so that it is now
located over the equator near the northeast coast of Brazil, officials
with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. 

	The relocation was requested by NOAA officials because only
one of two U.S. weather satellites is operating currently and no
replacement for the malfunctioning satellite is ready for launch due
to technical problems with a new satellite now undergoing repair. 

	Normally, one of the two U.S. satellites is stationed over the
the eastern Pacific to monitor storms coming into the West Coast and
the other is located over South America. That arrangement provides
full weather coverage of the hemisphere. 

	However since one of the aging satellites conked out in
January 1989, the remaining satellite has performed double duty,
moving eastward to cover Atlantic summer hurricanes and then westward
to monitor for Pacific winter storms. 

	The new positioning of the European satellite is expected to
give increased warning time for Atlantic hurricanes approaching the
East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, NOAA officials said. 

	In addition, they said the new location would help give advanced
warning of storms headed for Europe's western coast.

	In its new position, the European satellite will provide coverage
stretching from the Mississippi River to the east coast of Africa.

	NOAA officials expressed appreciation for the satellite
relocation and noted it continued a tradition of international
cooperation in weather monitoring. They said the United States moved
its satellite closer to Europe from June 1985 to July 1988 to provide
additional monitoring when a European satellite malfunctioned. 

From:	DECWRL::"[email protected]" 29-OCT-1991 20:34:32.59
Subj:	View Fom Low Orbit - Book Review

The following is my review of Tom Loebl's new book.    There is an
ad for the book on page 53 of the August/September 1991 WEATHERWISE
Magazine.    I recommend this book to you in the  WX-TALK list.

John Williams

---------------------- [email protected] ---------------------

                      VIEW FROM LOW ORBIT
                          BY TOM LOEBL

I  received my copy of Tom Loebl's new book VIEW FROM LOW ORBIT,
a  photographic  tour  of  North  America  and  its  weather  by
satellite,  in  early  September.  The  quality  of  the weather
satellite  images  reproduced  in  the  book is first class. The
black  and  white  images printed directly from halftone masters
created  from  Tom's  original  digital  data  would do National
Geographic proud.

Part 1  of the book contains 71 images of the Geography of North
America.  In  addition  to  the  1.1  km  resolution  AVHRR/HRPT
(Advanced  Very  High  Resolution  Radiometer  / High Resolution
Picture  Transmission)  images of the lower 48 States, there are
images showing spectacular detail of areas of Greenland, Canada,
Mexico  and  the  Caribbean. Included are five west coast images
received   by   Ed  Murashie  and  Tracy  Lenocker  in  southern
California. All other images were received by Tom using his home
built  John  DuBois/Ed  Murashie  design  receiving  station  in
Massachusetts.

Part 2 of the book has 73 images of the Weather of North America
with  dramatic  shots  of  various cloud forms and storm systems
over  land and water. Images of hurricanes Gustav and Isidore of
September  1990,  are included. There are equally dramatic shots
of thunderstorms developing over the Midwest, condensation trails
from  high flying jet aircraft, and valley fog in the Appalachian
Mountains.

Except  for  several  images from China's Feng Yun-1B all images
were   derived   from  transmissions  from  NOAA's  four  weather
satellites  (  NOAA  9, 10, 11 , 12 ). Tom dedicates the book to
his family and NOAA/NESDIS.

All  images  in the book are accompanied by a description of the
view  that tells the reader the geographic location of the image
and  the  existing weather conditions. Tom is a meteorologist by
trade  and  his  descriptions of developing weather patterns and
before  and  after  comparisons  give the reader an education in
interpreting the meteorological systems shown.

The  images  in  the  book  have  been printed with no political
boundaries  or  latitude/longitude  grid  overlays  to afford an
unimpeded view of the ground and cloud detail. With an atlas and
the  descriptions  in the book it is quite easy to identify most
of  the  landscape  in the pictures. A map of North America with
the  area  covered  by each image numbered and shaded would be a
helpful  addition  to  the book for readers unfamiliar satellite
image interpretation.

In  short,  this  book is a must for anyone who is interested in
weather  satellite  images.  The book will fascinate and educate
the  reader  and sets a high standard for future publications of
this  type.  The fact that images of this quality are obtainable
from  a  setup  costing  only  a  few  thousand  dollars  by  an
individual in the 'back yard' is truly amazing.

I  sincerely  recommend that you examine Tom's book for yourself
and  perhaps give it to your friends who are not quite sure what
all this  satellite  stuff is about as gift.  Better yet, buy an
extra copy to donate to your local high school or university and
inspire some interest in the younger folks .

VIEW  FROM  LOW ORBIT   can be  ordered directly from Tom Loebl,
Imaging  Publications, P.O. Box 66, Hubbardston, MA, for $16.95
plus $3.00 postage.

Reviewed by John Williams
September 18, 1991

From:	DECWRL::"[email protected]" "MAIL-11 Daemon" 13-APR-1992 
        14:29:49.88
To:	Multiple recipients of list WX-TALK 
        <WX-TALK%[email protected]>
Subj:	Future of Geo-Sats

There have been a lot of questions on the future of our geostationary
satellites, so I'm reprinting an article by J. Block in the April 1992
National Weather Association newsletter... 

CHANGES COMING IN GOES OPERATIONS

GOES-7, the current operational geostationary weather satellite, now
approaching the end of its five-year design life, will be left in its
current position to conserve its remaining fuel.  The recent deployment
of METEOSAT-3 (M3) by EUMETSAT (European organization for the
exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) at 50 degrees west
longitude has allowed this plan by providing good coverage of the
Atlantic Ocean for hurricanes and tropical storms.  For the past few
years of single GOES operation, GOES-7 has been stationed at 98W for
hurricane season and then moved to 108W for the winter. 

GOES-7 is currently slowly drifting west to 112 degrees, where it will
arrive on station in late April 1992.  The satellite continues to
operate normally, still using the first LED encoder lamp (the previous
GOES satellites had shortened lives because of the failure of this
encoder lamp), with one other LED and two incandescant lamps
remaining.  Adjustments to the starting scan line continue, resulting
in the scane starting as far south as 60N, to avoid lubricant buildup
on the imager's mirror.  It appears that the spacecraft will remain
healthy for the foreseeable future. 

The problem is that the five-year fuel supply is very low. When GOES-7
is stopped at 112W, it will not have north-south inclination maneuvers
performed to keep the orbital inclination (distance north or south of
the equator) to less than 0.1 degrees.  From now on, maneuvers will
only be performed to keep the inclination below one degree, which may
result in a slight wobble in the imagery, but should be correctable. 
By managing the orbit in this fashion, NESDIS (National Environmental
Satllite Data Information Service) hopes to be able to conserve enough
fuel to maintain GOES-7 through 1993 with usable imagery. 

In the meantime, NESDIS is proceeding with the construction of a
METEOSAT Command and Data Acquisition (CDA) station ad Wallops Island,
VA.  The Europeans have agreed to let the U.S. take control of M3 as
soon as the CDA station is completed.  This is necessary because the
existing METEOSAT CDA at Darmstadt, Germany cannot see M3 if it moves
any further to the west.  METEOSAT is a different satellite than GOES,
with lower resolution in the visible, a south to north scanning
regime, and only hourly images.  After checkout in early 1993, NESDIS
will move M3 to 75W, where it will remain until replaced by GOES-NEXT.

GOES-NEXT continues to experience developmental problems and delays.
In mid-1991, an independent GOES assessment team was formed.  The team
found that the spacecraft is complete, and in storage awaiting launch.
The ground systems are complete.  The only remaining problems are with
the sensor instruments. 

There have been a series of problems with the accuracy of the sounder.
The detectors in the imager have apparently degraded, and there have
been other technical problems uncovered by the assessment team.  In
light of these problems, the assessment team has recommended that the
GOES-I instruments not be flown but used as pathfinders, as the number
of problems uncovered has created a serious risk that they will not
work in space.  The GOES-I instruments package will be completed,
whereupon assembly of the GOES-J package will commence.  In view of
all known problems, this represents a tight schedule, but is possible.
The actual launch of GOES-I will not occur before December 1993. 

For the next two years, then, GOES imagery will be available at 112W
in a slightly degraded orbit.  METEOSAT data will cover the Atlantic
through this year, and will provide eastern U.S. coverage in 1993; in
effect, becoming the second operational U.S. satellite. Kavouras is
currently upgrading ground systems to enhance the current METEOSAT
imagery.  It will be 1995 before the U.S. has a two-GOES satellite
system operational again (Kavouras Newsletter) 

						J. Block

Article: 4448
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
From: [email protected] (Michael W. Rowland)
Subject: Env. Satellites Shutdown in December 1992
Sender: [email protected] (USENET Network News)
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681  USA
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 17:58:07 GMT
 
 We at Langley Research Center received news on Thursday, October 2,
1992 that NASA intends to shutdown the following satellites in
December to save about $15M: 
 
     NUMBUS-7
 
     ERBS
 
     NOAA-9
 
     NOAA-10
 
The following experiments will not be operational while the satellites
are shutdown: 
 
     Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II  (SAM II)
 
     Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBS) (3)
 
     Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II)
 
Mike Rowland
 
Mike Rowland, Aerosol Research Branch, MS 475
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton VA 23681
internet: [email protected]

From:	DECWRL::"[email protected]" "MAIL-11 Daemon" 8-OCT-1992 
        19:12:49.42
To:	Multiple recipients of list WX-TALK 
CC:	
Subj:	Re:      Satellite Status

  "(Chris Novy - WA9V)" <AXVSCCN%[email protected]> writes:

> Forwarded From: USENET Newsgroup sci.geo.meteorology
> Origin: [email protected] (Michael W Rowland)
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> Subject: Env. Satellites Shutdown in December 1992
> Keywords: satellites, budget cuts
> Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681  USA
> Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 17:58:07 GMT
>
> We at Langley Research Center received news on Thursday, October 2,
> 1992 that NASA intends to shutdown the following satellites in
> December to save about $15M:
> [...]

I've called NESDIS (the folks who deal with NOAA direct readout users)
and the word about the NOAA 9 and NOAA 10 satellites is "this is a
rumor, not fact."  A new NOAA polar satellite (currently called NOAA-I
- that's "I" as in the letter following "H," not Roman numeral I) will
be launched soon. NOAA 9 and NOAA 10 were declared non-prime
spacecraft (i.e., superceded by NOAA 11 and NOAA 12 respectively) some
time ago but their signals are still available (NOAA 10's currently in
conflict with [visible at the same time as] NOAA 12 and has therefore
been silenced until they're not visible at the same time). 

Given the current budgetary madness (can you say 4 trillion dollar
debt?), anything is possible, I guess.  Still, a note of caution is
appropriate here, at least for now. 

Rick

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% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
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Article: 4469
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
From: [email protected] (Michael W. Rowland)
Subject: ENV SATELLITE SHUTDOWN IN DEC 1992 - Update
Sender: [email protected] (USENET Network News)
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681  USA
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 18:00:36 GMT
 
This is a repost of 6 Oct. posting (revised)...
 
We at Langley Research Center received news on Thursday, October 2,
1992 that NASA intends to shutdown the following satellites in
December to save about $15M:
 
     NIMBUS-7
 
     ERBS
 
     NOAA-9 (partial?)
 
     NOAA-10 (partial?)
 
     UARS (SPRING 1993)
 
Some of the following experiments that will terminate when their
satellites are shutdown are: 
 
     Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II  (SAM II)
 
     Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBS) (3)
 
     Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II)
     
     Total Ozone Measurement System (TOMS)
 
     Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE)
 
     Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)
 
No plans have been stated to restart the satellites.
 
Budget cuts are specified in House Conference Report 102-902
that is attached to HR 5679, Sept. 24, 1992.
 
Mike Rowland
 
Mike Rowland, Aerosol Research Branch, MS 475
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton VA 23681
internet: [email protected]

Article: 49989
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: ENV SATELLITE SHUTDOWN IN DEC 1992
Sender: [email protected] (News Service)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean VA 22102
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 20:44:55 GMT
 
The UNOFFICIAL word I get is that NASA is dropping its direct downlink
from the satellites listed in the previous post.  The satellites
previously listed were NOAA satellites and will continue to be managed
by NOAA. 
 
It is however true that at least one NOAA satellite will be let go due
to ground limitations when a new NOAA satellite is launched. 
 
                                    - Karl J. Pitt

Article: 4749
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
From: [email protected] (John Bates)
Subject: NOAA-13 launch schedule
Sender: [email protected] (The Daily Planet)
Organization: NOAA Climate Research Division
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1992 22:37:48 GMT
 
NOAA-I (i.e., NOAA-13 after launch) is scheduled for launch from the
WTR on 1 June 1993.  Channel 3 AVHRR on NOAA-11 was noisy due to a
faulty bearing, but reports are that the noise has decreased on its
own recently (I don't use the data in real-time).  There are no plans
to do anything else to NOAA-11. 
 
Launch criteria for the NOAA spacecraft have recently been updated to
include criteria from the Climate and Global Change community.  I was
responsible (with others) for helping define those criteria.  The
criteria include snow and ice mapping using AVHRR.  Please send me
e-mail if you have particular concerns and specific quantitative
bounds on instrument performance.  I will try to include them in the
CGC launch criteria. 
 
GOES-6 (not imaging, GOES-7 is the only GOES still imaging) lost
transmission signal modulation.  It was continuing to send space
environment info, but this is now lost since GOES-7 does not have such
a space env. mon.  The message about GOES failure sent over the fax
may have been referring to the loss of all signal from GOES-6.  I
believe an old METEOSAT is now in position to take over when GOES-7
dies, and going to polar-orbiter images will not be necessary. 
 
John Bates.........Norman's evil twin.......

From:	DECWRL::"[email protected]" "MAIL-11 Daemon" 29-DEC-1992 
To:	Multiple recipients of list WX-TALK 
CC:	
Subj:	NOAA announces NOAA-10 shutoff

The following was posted this morning on SCIENCEnet.

Rick

Subject: PI: POLAR S/C SHUTOFF
>From: wxsat-da (wxsat mail daemon)
Date: Tues, 29 Dec 92 18:03:45 UTC

---> Forwarded message follows:

Posted: Tue, Dec 29, 1992  10:36 AM EST              Msg: KGJC-5498-4323
>From:   NOAA.SAT.OPS
To:     SUB.NOAA.SAT.2
CC:     NOAA.SAT.OPS
Subj:   PI: POLAR S/C SHUTOFF

THE FOLLOWING IS A DRAFT ASSESSMENT REGARDING THE TURNOFF OF ONE OF THE
NOAA POLAR SPACECRAFT UPON THE LAUNCH OF NOAA-I.  COMMENTS SHOULD BE
DIRECTED TO GREG MANDT AT 301-763-5880.

      NOAA Polar Satellite Turnoff Assessment

NESDIS has made a launch call for NOAA-I with a target date of June 1,
1993.  This satellite will be placed in the afternoon orbit replacing
NOAA-11  which was launched in September, 1988 and is nearing it's end
of life.  There are currently four NOAA polar orbiting satellites
requiring operational contact by NESDIS.  Since the polar ground
station can only support approximately 30 contacts per day
(representing slightly more than contacting two satellites every
orbit),  there are currently only a few contacts per day on the backup
satellites and the launch of NOAA-I necessitates the operational
release of one of the current satellites.  To facilitate the decision
as to which satellite should be dropped from operational control, we
need a summary of the operational usage status of each of the
satellites.  That summary follows (summary also presented graphically
in attachment).

SATELLITE STATUS:

NOAA-9.  Satellite was launched in December, 1984.  It has drifted
from it's original mid afternoon ascending node to a 1945 equator
crossing time (or 0745 decending time).  This orbit continues to
precess at about +4 minutes per month.  The spacecraft requires close
monitoring due to age related power limitations.  The greatest user
value is with the SARSAT, ERBE , SBUV, and AVHRR.  The SARSAT package
on this satellite provides real time coverage and, more importantly,
the only morning global search and rescue coverage.  On this
satellite, this global information is available only through the GAC
data stream.  However, due to the few ground contacts available to
support NOAA-9, the GAC data are only obtained a few times per day,
resulting in lengthy delays in gaining knowledge of emergency beacons.
The ERBE Non-scanner still works and is providing useful data, however
the current orbit is of limited use to the radiation budget community
as it is close to the terminator where there is minimal solar energy
affect on the atmosphere.  Users are particularly interested in
obtaining data from this instrument in mid 1993 when NOAA-9 will drift
to a later nodal crossing time.  The SBUV was designed for the PM
orbit and zenith angle problems affect it in the current orbit.
However, similar to the ERBE, due to the drifting of NOAA-9's orbit,
by mid 93 the SBUV will provide interesting scientific data for
comparison with initial readings in 1984. The AVHRR data are not used
for global products but still support APT and HRPT users.  The other
instruments are considered operational but the data are only used as
backup to other sources.  While the SSU and most of the HIRS still
function adequately, the failure of the MSU and the noise in the long
wave channels of the HIRS make the total TOVS system unusable for
numerical models.  Currently the TOVS  data are not used in any
product development.    The ARGOS instrument serves only as a backup
to instruments on other satellites.

NOAA-10.  Satellite was launched in September, 1986.  The orbit
currently has a 0645 descending equator crossing time which is moving
earlier at the rate of 1.7 minutes per month.   The sun angle will get
worse the earlier the satellite drifts resulting in degradation of
most satellite data collection.  The spacecraft requires close
monitoring due to age related power limitations.   The instruments on
this satellite providing useful data are the SARSAT, SEM and ERBE.
While these instruments all have failed components, they still provide
useful data.  Of key interest is the SARSAT downlink.  Although the
NOAA-10 SARSAT cannot be used globally, it still has real time
capability (this means the beacon and a ground site must both be
visible to the satellite simultaneously for the beacon to be located).
Due to the age of both NOAA-9 and NOAA-10 and the fact that these two
are the only SARSAT carrying spacecraft in the AM orbit, the SARSAT
community is concerned that voluntary shut off of either one reduces
their coverage and that the remaining one could fail at any time
leaving them with no AM coverage.  The ERBE Non-scanning instrument
still works, but, as in NOAA-9, this orbit does not provide very good
data.  Since the orbit is drifting slowly earlier, there will be no
improvement in data collection as in NOAA-9.  The SEM package has also
had partial failures but is still providing some data.  The rest of
the sensors are either backup or unusable.  The TOVS, AVHRR, and ARGOS
all are considered operational but the data are used only as a backup
to NOAA-12 instruments.  The AVHRR still supports APT and HRPT users.

NOAA-11.  Satellite was launched in September, 1988.  This is the
primary afternoon satellite with an ascending node of 1525.  Upon
launch of NOAA-I (then designated NOAA-13), NOAA-11 will revert to a
backup mode in the PM orbit.  Two attitude control gyros have failed,
and contingency plans are in place to operate the spacecraft if the
final two fail.  All instruments (TOVS, AVHRR, SARSAT, ARGOS, and
SBUV) are operational and providing useful data.

NOAA-12.  Satellite was launched in May, 1991.  This is the primary
morning satellite with a descending node of 0734.  It's TOVS, AVHRR,
and ARGOS instruments are primary operational instruments to their
using communities.  The SEM package is providing useful data to space
environmental users.  The spacecraft does not have SARSAT, ERBE or
SBUV packages.

CONCLUSIONS

The basic observation is that all four satellites are  providing
useful data.  The shut-off of any of them will have impact on some
users.  Considering this, plus the fact that any of these satellites
could fail between now and the launch of NOAA-I, NESDIS should refrain
from turning off any satellite until absolutely necessary.  A case
could even be made to delay the launch of NOAA-I where prudent during
the launch preparation.  That is, rather than working hard to make the
scheduled date, it would be appropriate to allow launch date slips to
occur when problems arise.  Since there would be no operational impact
due to slipping the launch, launch planning/problem resolution could
be accomplished with mininum cost as the driving factor.

With the above understanding, the following details are important to
the turn-off decision. NOAA-12 is the current operational AM satellite
so is not a serious candidate for turn-off.  NOAA-11 would become the
back-up to the new satellite for the PM orbit and NOAA-9 and 10 would
be backups to NOAA-12.  NOAA-11 has a fully operational set of
instruments.  These facts combined with NOAA-11's relative "youth"
on-orbit compared to NOAA-9 and 10 leads one to narrow the turn-off
decision to the older satellites.

The TOVS, AVHRR, and ARGOS communities all use NOAA-9 and 10
equally--primarily as backup to the other satellites.  The only
significant factor is that the failure of the MSU in the NOAA-9 TOVS
system basically makes that systems data unacceptable for producing
NESDIS products.  This means NOAA-10 TOVS is the only real backup for
NOAA-12 sounding data.  Since the NOAA-12 instruments were considered
"weak performers" during ground tests, failures may be more likely to
occur with these instruments.  One could hypothesize a situation where
we've shut off NOAA-10, then NOAA-12 TOVS failed early, so we would
have to launch NOAA-J because there would be no morning orbit sounding
capability.  One then has to weigh this potential backup need with
other factors.

Other determining factors are the useage of the SARSAT, SBUV, SEM, and
ERBE instruments.  The ERBE community uses both instruments but
slightly favors the NOAA-9 orbit because it will drift to mid morning
by mid 1993 and provide interesting new scientific data at that time.
Although NOAA-10 does not have an SSBUV since the instrument has
sunglint problems in the AM orbit--the drift in the NOAA-9 orbit will
allow collection of interesting data by mid 1993.  NOAA-9 does not
have a SEM package so that community prefers to keep NOAA-10 alive;
but since full SEM packages are operational on NOAA-12 and soon to be
-13, the SEM community will have data from both an AM and PM orbit
without NOAA-10.  The final sensor may be the most important factor.
Since NOAA-12 (primary AM spacecraft) does not have a SARSAT package,
the SARSAT community relies on the combination of NOAA-9 and -10 for
AM coverage.  The loss of either spacecraft would reduce
international SARSAT capabilities.  In addition, after turning off one
spacecraft, the failure of the SARSAT package on the other would
result in no AM SARSAT coverage.

The key factors are: 1)  NOAA-9 provides best AM SARSAT capability, 2)
NOAA-9 is drifting to "improved" orbit for SEM/SBUV data collection,
and 3) NOAA-10 is only satellite which can provide AM TOVS data if
NOAA-12 fails.  The decision then becomes a determination of the
relative importance of SARSAT and some science data versus TOVS backup
capability in the AM orbit.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.  Plan to turn off NOAA-10 but delay turn-off decision as long as possible.

2.  Unless on-orbit failure requires rapid action, do not treat NOAA-I
launch date as "hard" date.  In other words, approach launch
preparations with "minimum cost" attitude, allowing schedule slips to
work problems as opposed to working overtime to maintain schedule.

---> End of forwarded message

+============================================================================+
|               The above is supplied via Wxsat mail list                    |
| Replies to [email protected]          Subscriptions to [email protected] |
+============================================================================+

% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% From: "Weather Sat List Admin." <[email protected]>
% Subject:      NOAA announces NOAA-10 shutoff

Article: 56046
Date: Wednesday, 3 Feb 1993 10:22:27 CET
From: <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject:    Info to ESA press release
 
   INFORMATION NOTE TO THE PRESS Nr. 01-93
   Paris, 02.02.93
 
   Meteosat-3 to be Stationed over America
 
   On 27 January 1993, the ESA-built weather satellite, Meteosat-3,
   began its move to a new station, longitude 75 degrees West, over
   the South American state of Colombia. From there it will be able to
   provide meteorological coverage of virtually the whole of the
   American continent and, most importantly, the United States of
   America.
 
   In 1991, following agreement between ESA and EUMETSAT,
   Meteosat-3 was made available to the US meteorological service
   NOAA, to cover a potential deficiency caused by delays in the US
   agency's new second-generation satellite service. Meteosat-3
   became an instant television star as it plotted the course of the
   devastating hurricane, called "Andrew", which hit Florida in
   August 1992.
 
   It was the least that Europe could do for its friends in the United
   States: between 1985 and 1988, NOAA made capacity available on
   its GOES-4 satellite to Europe to collect meteorological data.
 
   Meteosat-3 is to become such an integral part of NOAA's
   forecasting service that for the first time ever, Europe has now
   constructed a satellite ground station on US territory, at Wallops
   Island, Virginia.
 
   Primetime Weather
 
   Meteosat weather images have been a feature of primetime
   European television for over 15 years. They have provided fast,
   reliable meteorological data for Europeans; warnings of storms,
   rain, ice, drought, sun and snow. Forecasts that enable everyone
   to plan each day with a little more care and a great deal more
   safety.
 
   Meteorologists combine satellite data with ground measurements to
   make weather predictions, based on complex computer models. Two
   Meteosats, operating in a geostationary orbit 36OOO kilometres
   above the equator, provide a daily stream of weather data to users
   all over Europe, Africa and the United States. A third Meteosat is
   operated in stand-by mode as an in-orbit spare.
 
   The Meteosat satellites - A Proven Concept
 
   Meteosat-3 consists of two cylindrical bodies, concentrically
   stacked. The main body is covered with solar cells and most
   subsystems, including the radiometer which generates the images,
   are located in this cylinder. The second, smaller cylinder carries
   an electronically despun antenna together with the communications
   equipment.
 
   At the heart of the satellite is a radiometer. This is a telescope
   with a focal length of 3.65 metres with a set of detectors in the
   focal plane to measure the radiance of the Earth and its cloud
   cover in three spectral bands : visible, infrared (thermal) and
   water-vapour. By virtue of the spin motion of the satellite, the
   radiometer scans the Earth from East to West ; the South to North
   scan is achieved by tilting the telescope axis. A set of three
   images with resolutions of 2,5 km in the visible and 5 km in the
   other spectral bands, is produced every 30 minutes.
 
   Getting Meteosat-3 Data to the Users
 
   An on-board communications system transmits the raw images from
   the satellite to the Wallops ground station in Virginia in the United
   States; these data are relayed by a telecommunications satellite to
   the Meteosat ground facilities in ESA's European Space Operations
   Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt. From here, the spacecraft and its
   payload are controlled. Images are processed and meteorological
   products derived and distributed to national meteorological
   services and nearly 2000 end users. The meteorological products
   and image data for the United States are relayed to the Wallops
   station by a telecommunications satellite, for distribution via
   Meteosat's communications payload and ground telecommunications
   links.
 
   A unique feature of this system is that not only Meteosat-3 but
   also the Wallops station is completely remote-controlled from ESOC
   in Darmstadt, including any station reconfigurations and
   software-updating. Trans-Atlantic telephone trunk lines and ESA-
   installed back-up facilities ensure redundancy of the whole
   communications system.
 
   Meteosat - A Success Story with a Long Tradition
 
   Meteosat-1, Europe's first meteorological satellite, was launched
   in 1977 as a pre-operational satellite. It provided a permanent view
   of most of Europe, all of Africa, parts of Asia, North and South
   America; in total over 100 countries. Meteosat-2 was launched in
   1981 and Meteosat-3 in 1988.
 
   In addition to fulfilling their missions to the complete satisfaction
   of scientists and meteorologists, the success of these pre-
   operational satellites paved the way for the operational Meteosat
   programme which covers the construction of three more satellites,
   support ground facilities and the operation of these facilities until
   the end of 1995.
 
   A dedicated European organisation, EUMETSAT, was set up in
   1986 to ensure the financing and overall-responsibility for this
   programme. ESA oversees the construction and orbital operation
   of Meteosat-4 through Meteosat-6 on behalf of EUMETSAT.
 
   The first operational satellite, Meteosat-4, was launched on 6
   March 1989; Meteosat-5 on 2 March 1991, to be followed by
   Meteosat-6 in November 1993.
 
   Meteosat-3 and the Americas - a Long Relation
 
   When the lack of geostationary satellite capacity over the Americas
   became apparent in early 1991, Europe reacted quickly by moving
   METEOSAT-3 to 50 degrees West, from where it could still be
   controlled directly from Darmstadt. Within a few months began
   what is known as the Atlantic Data Coverage (ADC) mission.
 
   The ADC mission served several purposes. First to extend
   Europe's monitoring of the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas and
   secondly to provide support to NOAA, especially during the
   hurricane season. This was of particular interest to NOAA since
   their operations were relying on a single Geostationary Operational
   Environmental Satellite (GOES) located around 98 degrees West.
   Thanks to METEOSAT-3, it was not necessary to move the GOES
   satellite to a more easterly location during the hurricane season.
   Finally, the ADC mission would provide support to the
   meteorological services of Central and South America.
 
   The success of the ADC mission was particularly emphasised in
   August 1992 at the time of Hurricane Andrew, when Meteosat-3
   allowed the forecasters to have half-hourly updates of the
   situation before the hurricane struck the coast of Florida.
 
   Since NOAA wished to move the satellite even more westwards, the
   Wallops Meteosat ground station had to be built. With its
   inauguration on 25 February 1993, the extended ADC mission of
   Meteosat will begin.
 
   All equipment necessary for the extended-ADC (X-ADC) mission
   has been procured in Europe, through a contract for which
   Dornier/Deutsche Aerospace of Germany is the prime contractor.
   NOAA is funding the hardware and software, communication links
   and operations cost for the X-ADC mission. A final running-in
   phase was successfully accomplished during January 1993 when
   METEOSAT-3 at 50 degrees West was operated via the Wallops
   relay station. METEOSAT-3 is now drifting toward 75 degrees West
   and X-ADC operations will start late February 1993 with the
   official inauguration of the ground station. Should it be
   necessary, the range of the ground station is such that the
   mission could be operated at up to 115 degrees West.
 
   First Image of the Extended ADC Mission
 
   The first Meteosat-3 image during the X-ADC mission, showing all
   of the Americas, should be available from ESA Public Relations as
   from 24 February. Media wishing to obtain prints are requested to
   contact one of the Public Relations offices.
 

Article: 57615
From: MAILRP%[email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: message from Space Digest
Date: 24 Feb 93 16:13:02 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: [via International Space University]
  
Joint Press Release ESA/EUMETSAT/NOAA Nr.08.93
Paris, 24 February 1993
 
EUROPEAN WEATHER SATELLITE MOVES
CLOSER TO UNITED STATES
 
A new era of international cooperation in the sharing of weather
data was marked today when a European weather satellite
completed a move to 75 degrees west longitude at 22,500 miles
(36,000 km) above the equator. The satellite now provides weather
images spanning both East and West Coasts of the United States,
Central and South America.
 
Meteosat-3 was launched in 1988 and served as Europe's
operational satellite until June 1989. It was developed by the
European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by ESA on behalf of
the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological
Satellites (EUMETSAT). The announcement of its move was made
at a joint news conference by these agencies and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates the
United States' geostationary weather satellites known as GOES
satellites.
 
The United States normally operates two meteorological satellites
in geostationary orbit, one each over the East and West Coasts.
However, it has had only one since the failure of GOES-6 in 1989.
A planned replacement satellite was lost due to a launch vehicle
failure in 1986.
 
The remaining operational satellite, GOES-7, was repositioned
midway over the United States. The next GOES launch is projected
for April 1994 with a second GOES launch one year later.
Meanwhile, if GOES-7 should fail, it is technically possible for
Meteosat-3 to move farther west and provide continuing coverage
of the United States, Central and South America.
 
Meteosat-3 originally operated at 0 degrees longitude over the
equator. It was manoeuvred to a position of 50 degrees west over
the equator in August 1991 to supplement NOAA's GOES system.
It began the journey to its new location of 75 degrees west
longitude 27 January, moving approximately one degree per day
in support of the Extended Atlantic Data Coverage mission.
 
At 75 degrees west, Meteosat-3 is no longer within the field of
view of the Meteosat station located near Darmstadt, Germany. To
be able to continue the operations from ESA's European Space
Operations Center (ESOC) it was necessary to build a Meteosat 
Relay station in Wallops, Virginia. The station, implemented by
European industry under ESA management, is connected with
ESOC's control center through a trans-Atlantic satellite link.
 
Images from Meteosat-3 are available free of charge and will be
used by weather forecasters in both the northern and southern
American continents and will also be available to European weather
services using already established communications links involving
Meteosat 4.
 
There is a tradition of cooperation among operators of
geostationary satellites. In 1978, a U.S. GOES satellite was
positioned over the Indian Ocean at the request of the World
Meteorological Organisation, and operated by the European Space
Agency from a ground station in Spain. In 1985, NOAA aided
Europe by repositioning a GOES satellite farther east over the
Atlantic during the loss of the Data Collection System on Meteosat-
2.
                         *
                        * *
          Note to Editors :
 
Prints of the first image taken on 19 February 1993 by Meteosat-3
from its new location at 75 degrees West, together with some
explanations of the meteorological situation that day, are available
from ESA Public Relations at one of the addresses figuring on the
first page of this press release.
    

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "Ron Baalke" 13-JUL-1993 
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	NOAA-I Launch Rescheduled for August 7 (Forwarded)

Brian Dunbar                        July 9, 1993
NASA Hq.
(202) 358-0873

Jim Elliott
Goddard Space Flight Center
(301) 286-6256

Pat Viets
NOAA/NESDIS
(301) 763-2560

Release No. 93 - 92

                NOAA-I SATELLITE LAUNCH
                RESCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 7

     The launch of the NOAA-I satellite, designed to monitor the
oceans and the atmosphere, has been rescheduled for August 7,
officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
announced today. 

    The launch, aboard an Atlas E launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air
Force Base, Calif., had been scheduled for July 13.  However, problems
with a Redundant Crystal Oscillator (RXO), a timing device that
regulates activities on the spacecraft, forced the delay in the
launch, officials said. 

    The satellite, to be named NOAA-13 in orbit, will circle Earth
every 102 minutes at an altitude of 541 miles (871 km). 

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [email protected]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | There is no such thing as
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | a "temporary" tax increase.
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | 

	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Space officials are investigating why they have
lost contact with a weather satellite launched from California two weeks
ago.
	NASA said Monday the NOAA-13 satellite's power system failed on
Saturday, when controllers detected steadily decreasing battery
strength. Contact was lost at 7:15 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
	The weather satellite was designed to collect atmospheric and ocean
data. Built by Martin Marietta Astro Space in East Windsor, N.J., it was
intended to replace the NOAA-11 satellite, which was launched September
1988.
	NASA and officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration will convene a review board to investigate the failure.
	The manufacturer is conducting its own review, NASA said.

At least they have some data to work with here...

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "Peter Yee" 23-AUG-1993 22:12:29.82
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	Controllers lose contact with NOAA-13 satellite [Release 93-151]  

Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                            August 23, 1993
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Jim Elliott
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone:  301/286-6256)

Pat Viets
NOAA/NESDIS
(Phone:  301/763-2560)

RELEASE:  93-151

CONTROLLERS LOSE CONTACT WITH NOAA-13 SATELLITE

	Satellite controllers lost contact with the NOAA-13 satellite
on Saturday, and preliminary indications are that the spacecraft's
power system is not working, officials at NASA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today. 

	All battery charging aboard the satellite ceased at
approximately 3:45 p.m. EDT Aug. 21, said Charles E. Thienel,
Meteorological Satellites Project Manager at NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.  Contact with the spacecraft during
subsequent ground passes showed steadily decreasing battery voltages
and currents, he said. 

	Output from the solar arrays continued to be normal, Thienel
said, indicating a failure in the circuitry between the solar arrays
and the batteries.  There has been no contact with the spacecraft
since approximately 7:15 p.m. EDT Aug. 21. 

	The spacecraft was launched by the U.S. Air Force from
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Aug. 9.  Spacecraft operations
were turned over to NOAA on Aug. 12 as a part of planned checkout
procedures.  Instrument checkouts were continuing at the time of the
failure. 

	NOAA-13 is the newest in a series of polar-orbiting weather
satellites. It is designed to monitor the Earth's ocean and atmosphere.  
It collects meteorological and ocean data for direct transmission to 
users around the world and to central data processing centers. 

	NOAA-11, which NOAA-13 was planned to replace, was launched 
in September 1988 and NOAA-12 in May 1991.  Both are providing
environmental data to users around the world.  NOAA officials said the
problem with NOAA-13 would not affect weather coverage.  Instruments
on NOAA-11 and NOAA-12 are providing full coverage.  NOAA-13 was
called up to ensure continuity of data because of degradation in
NOAA-11's instruments and spacecraft subsystems. 

	The spacecraft was built by Martin Marietta Astro Space in
East Windsor, N.J.  The spacecraft completed its initial functional
and environmental testing in early 1990.  The spacecraft then was held
in standby with routinely scheduled aliveness testing until March
1993, when it went through complete functional checkout in preparation
for launch. 

	NASA and NOAA will convene a review board to investigate the
incident. Martin Marietta already has convened its review board. 

Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1993 14:40:42 CDT
From:    Chris Novy <[email protected]>
Subject: Controllers lose contact with NOAA-13 weather satellite

ZCZC NMCADMNMC
ADMN81 KWBC 231933

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
325 PM EDT MON AUG 23 1993

     CONTROLLERS LOSE CONTACT WITH NOAA-13 WEATHER SATELLITE

Satellite controllers have lost contact with NOAA-13, an environmental
satellite launched Aug. 9, 1993, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) said today. 

The last contact with the polar-orbiting satellite was Saturday, Aug.
21, at 7:15 p.m. EDT.  Subsequent attempts to contact the satellite
have been unsuccessful.  Engineers from NOAA, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA), and Martin Marietta Astro Space,
manufacturer of the satellite, are currently trying to determine the
problem and how to correct it. 

NOAA-13, successfully launched by the Air Force for NASA and NOAA, is
designed to monitor Earth's oceans and atmosphere.  The satellite
collects meteorological and ocean data for direct transmission to
users around the world and to central data processing centers. 

NOAA's polar-orbiting satellite program is a cooperative effort with
NASA, which, through its Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,
develops and procures the spacecraft before turning the satellite over
to NOAA for operations. 

NOAA's polar-orbiting satellite system consists of NOAA-11, launched
in September 1988, and NOAA-12, launched in May 1991. Both satellites
are continuing to provide environmental data to users around the
world.  NOAA-13 was planned to replace NOAA-11, but with the continued
availability of NOAA-11 and -12, there is no immediate impact to
NOAA's National Weather Service's forecast and warning program. 

For more information, call Patricia Viets, NOAA/NESDIS, at (301) 763-2560. 

NWS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
*=====================================================================*
Chris Hayes Novy - WA9V     Internet: [email protected]
Southern Illinois Univ.       BITNET: Chris@siucvmb
Morris Library - Systems       Phone: (618)453-1683(w) (618)457-6149(h)
Carbondale, IL 62901             FAX: (618) 453-3440
*=====================================================================*

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "Peter Yee" 30-AUG-1993 00:34:25.24
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	NASA/NOAA panel to investigate NOAA-13 failure [Release 93-154]  

Brian Dunbar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                               August 26, 1993
(Phone:  202/358-0873)

Jim Elliott
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone:  301/286-6256)

RELEASE:  93-154

NASA/NOAA PANEL TO INVESTIGATE NOAA-13 FAILURE

	A 12-member panel of experts from NASA and NOAA has been named
to investigate the failure of the NOAA-13 meteorological satellite,
officials at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt,
Md., announced today. 

	Dr. Shelby Tilford, Acting Associate Administrator for the
Office of Mission to Planet Earth, NASA Headquarters, and Dr. Kathryn
Sullivan, Chief Scientist, NOAA, requested Dr. John M. Klineberg,
Goddard Center Director, to name the investigation board.  The board
will investigate and to the extent possible, determine the cause of
the spacecraft failure and recommend corrective actions which will
minimize or preclude the possibility of similar future failures. 

	Klineberg named Jeremiah Madden, Associate Director of Flight
Projects at Goddard, as board chairman. 

	Other panel members include H. Richard Freeman, Chief Engineer
GSFC Engineering Directorate; Thomas E. McGunigal and Gary Davis,
NOAA; William J. Middendorf, NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland;
John Pandelides and Donald Lokerson, Flight Projects Directorate,
GSFC; Edward Gaddy, Engineering Directorate, GSFC; Alfred L. Seivold,
Flight Assurance Directorate, GSFC; James Greaves, Mission to Planet
Earth Office, NASA Headquarters; and Michael Greenfield, Office of
Safety and Mission Assurance, NASA Headquarters. 

	James Murphy, of the Flight Projects Office at Goddard, will
serve as Recording Secretary.  The board will report its findings to
Dr. Tilford and Dr. Sullivan. 

	NOAA-13 was launched by the U.S. Air Force from Vandenberg Air
Force Base on Aug. 9.  Preliminary evidence indicates the $67 million
spacecraft's power system is not working.  Controllers have had no
communication with the satellite since Saturday, Aug. 21, at
approximately 7:15 P.M. EDT, according to Charles E. Thienel,
Meteorological Satellites Project Manager at Goddard. 

	NASA, through its Goddard center, serves as agent for NOAA in
the procurement, development and launch of the NOAA satellites. 

At least these guys have some data to work with.  I don't envy the MO panel!

Burnsz

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "Andrew Yee, Science North" 
        22-OCT-1993 03:44:35.18
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	Meteosat-6 launch preparation in full swing

European Space Agency
Press Information Note No. 28-93
Paris, France					12 October 1993

METEOSAT-6 LAUNCH PREPARATIONS IN FULL SWING

The Meteosat-6 satellite arrived at the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's
spaceport in Kourou French Guiana, on 28 September 1993.  The
spacecraft is now being prepared for launch and all subsystems have
already been successfully tested.  By the end of the month, Meteosat-6
should be transported to the launch area, mounted on top of its Ariane
launcher and made ready for lift-off in mid-November. 

Meteosat-6 is the latest spacecraft in the Meteosat Operational
Programme which ESA carries out on behalf of Eumetsat, the European
Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.  All
Meteosat satellites have been built by a consortium of European
companies lead by Aerospatiale of France. 

The principal instrument of Meteosat is a radiometer, a special
telescope that produces images of Earth in three special bands
(visible, infrared and water vapour).  A set of three images is
generated every thirty minutes.  These images are distributed,
directly through Meteosat, to more than 2000 receiveing stations in
over 100 countries around the world. 

Weather forecasters value Meteosat's capability to provide weather
information in real-time.  The reliability of forecasts has risen over
the last ten years to almost 80%.  Recent studies have shown that a
considerable part of the improvement is contributed by Meteosat. 

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "Andrew Yee, Science North" 
        12-NOV-1993 00:19:40.55
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	The World Weather Watch

[From the October 1993 issue (No. 81) of ARIANESPACE NEWSLETTER.]

THE WORLD WEATHER WATCH

The weather has a major influence on human activities, and our security 
and survival depend on it.  Meteorological events happen on a 
worldwide scale, although their repercussions are only felt locally.

The World Weather Watch (WWW) programs collects, analyzes and 
distributes data related to weather and environment conditions.  The 
WWW groups national facilities and services set up and operated by the 
member states of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

This organization is built on a basic principle: each of the 160 member 
states is committed to assume a certain number of responsibilities within 
the scope of a worldwide program so that the entire community benefits 
from these collective efforts.  The program is a concrete and efficient 
example of international cooperation.

The weather watch itself comprises three fundamental elements:

*  A world observation system, including land, sea, aircraft and earth 
observation satellite resources and facilities dedicated to measuring 
meteorological factors.

*  A global telecommunications system, which ensures fast exchange of 
analyzed and processed data, especially weather forecasts established 
by processing centers.  This system increasingly relies on satellite 
communications.  For example, global ocean coverage makes it possible 
to collect and centralize weather messages from observation ships, and 
to distribute forecasts and warnings to ships on the world's oceans.

*  A data processing system, including worldwide and regional 
processing centers.

Satellites, whether dedicated to weather observation or telecoms, play a 
growing role in our daily activities.  Security in all types of transportation 
has therefore improved significantly thanks to the WWW.

The world weather system uses data from two different orbits, i.e. two 
types of satellites:

*  Geostationary satellites, which have a fixed position above the Equator 
and send out pictures of the earth every thirty minutes.  The United States 
provides the GOES satellites, Europe operates METEOSAT, Japan 
provides GMS, and India contributes with part of INSAT's payload.  
Russia's GOMS satellite, initially scheduled for 1978, was never 
launched; in 1988, a COSMOS with a weather payload reached its 
position at 12 degrees East, but was never stabilized.  Considering the 
importance of weather data, China is now studying a domestic system 
and will eventually contribute to the world's database.

*  Polar orbit satellites, revolving around the earth fourteen times per day 
at an altitude of about 850 km.  Twice a day, they transmit pictures and 
various data concerning the whole planet.  In the US, NOAA operates two 
satellites named TIROS or NOAA, and Russia, one METEOR or METSAT satellite.

All data and pictures from geostationary satellites are sent to users' 
stations via the international WEFAX system.  The APT system is in 
charge of distributing pictures generated by polar spacecraft.  Thousands 
of WEFAX/ATP stations are currently operated throughout the world.

Prospects for further development of weather satellite applications are 
very extensive.  New generations of satellites are therefore under study, 
although this naturally depends on the financial resources allocated by 
member states.

In Europe, the Eumetsat, the intergovernmental organization created in 
1986 by sixteen European states with the help of the European Space 
Agency, did not wait for the polar platform (POEM) to be approved before 
starting the ENVISAT (experimental ecology watch mission) and METOP 
(weather observation mission) programs.  To ensure service continuity, 
Europe is also procuring a METEOSAT 7, identical to the current generation.

In the US, the situation is not as clear.  NOAA has launched the 
production of three TIROS satellites, but their budget is not totally 
assured.  NOAA also faces new problems since losing the NOAA-13 
satellite orbited last August.  The GOES-I and J spacecraft also face 
technical problems, and have been waiting for launch since 1989.  The 
rest of the program is on hold because of disagrrement over costs 
estimated by NASA, the government and manufacturers.

In Japan, GMS 5 should be operational in 1995, and GMS 6 is 
scheduled for the end of the decade.

In India, the INSAT II and III programs are well defined and should 
guarantee continuous service for over ten years.

In Russia, it seems that work on METEOR-3M continues, and launch is 
scheduled for 1996-97.

In China, the launch of the next FENGYUN -- not really successful yet -- 
has been postponed to mid-1994.

The usefulness of such a weather watch no longer needs to be proven.  
Weather satellites are part of our daily life.  They are used not only to 
detect and monitor cyclones, storms and fog banks, but also to track the 
invasion of migratory locusts!  In other words, space meteorology 
continues to contribute to human well-being.

				*	*	*

			WEATHER SATELLITES

	Launched, no 	Operational		Waiting 
	longer in 				for launch
	service

Europe	2 METEOSAT	METEOSAT-3		METEOSAT-6
			(ex-MOP-P2, 1982)	(ex-MOP-3)
			  - replaces GOES-G
			METEOSAT-4		METEOSAT-7
			(ex-MOP-1, 1989)	(or MTP)
			METEOSAT-5
			(ex-MOP-2, 1991)

United 	7 GOES		GOES-7 (1987)		GOES-I
States	12 NOAA		NOAA-11 (1988)		GOES-J
			NOAA-12 (1991)		NOAA-14

Japan	3 GMS		GMS-4 (1989)		GMS-5

India*	1 INSAT		INSAT 1D (1990)		INSAT IIB
			INSAT IIA (1992)

Russia	From METEOR 	METEOR 3-4 (1991)	GOMS (information 
	1-7 to METEOR	METEOR 3-5 (1991)	not available)
	3-3

* India: partial service.

Article: 77828
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: MAILRP%[email protected]
Subject: message from Space Digest
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: [via International Space University]
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 12:32:05 GMT
 
Press Release Nr. 45-93
Paris, 12 November 1993
 
Media arrangements for Meteosat-6 launch
 
The launch of the Meteosat-6 satellite by Ariane V61 is currently
scheduled for the night of 19 to 20 November 1993 at 01h17 GMT (02h17
in Paris). The launch window is 45 minutes. 
 
The Meteosat-6 satellite was developed by the European Space Agency
(ESA) on behalf of EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the
Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. The satellite was
manufactured by an industrial consortium of European companies led by
Aerospatiale of France. 
 
All Meteosat satellites are operated by ESA, on behalf of EUMETSAT and
the US weather service NOAA, from its European Space Operations Centre
(ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. As from 1996, EUMETSAT will take over
Meteosat operations from ESA. 
 
Meteosat-6 will ensure that weather forecasters in Europe and abroad
will continue to receive an indispensable flow of meteorological data
from space. The economic benefits of improved weather forecasts have
been calculated to be 130 million ECUs per year - twice of what ESA is
spending for development, launch and operations of Meteosat satellites
per year. 
 
Journalists are informed that :

1. Comprehensive information on the Meteosat-6 satellite and
   its launch can be found in an ESA press kit available upon request.
 
2. ESA will be sending out a press release on the status of the
   spacecraft early operations in the morning after the launch.
 
3. Between Friday 19 November, 10h00 and Monday 22 November at 12h00,
   an answering machine at ESA Head Office will supply up-to-date
   information on the launch and the early operations of Meteosat-6,
   (Tel.: +33.1 42.73.76.60). 
 
4. ESA's Meteosat Project Team will be providing videotransmissions of
   the launch from Kourou to ESA's two biggest establishments, ESOC in
   Darmstadt, Germany, and 
 
ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. ESA and EUMETSAT have pleasure in
inviting the media to attend these events, which will start shortly
after midnight with an informative local programme. 
 
Journalists wishing to receive the press kit or to attend one of the
events at ESOC or ESTEC are requested to send back, if possible by
fax, the enclosed form. The programme and all details for the events
at ESOC and ESTEC will be sent by fax directly to all registered
participants. 
 

Article: 78135
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: MAILRP%[email protected]
Subject: message from Space Digest
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: [via International Space University]
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 09:03:14 GMT
 
Press Release Nr.46-93
Paris,  20 November 1993
 
Meteosat-6 successfully launched
 
Meteosat-6 was successfully launched by Ariane V61 at 01h17 GMT
(02h17, Paris time) on 20 November 1993. The spacecraft was placed
into the planned geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), and ESA's
European Space Operations Center (ESOC) established radio contact with
the satellite soon after injection into GTO. 
 
The initial configuration and checkout operations have been
successful. Further information on the scheduled activities during the
first months of Meteosat-6 in orbit can be found in the attached note.
 
The first months of Meteosat-6 in orbit
 
Following the launch of Meteosat-6 on Ariane flight V61 from the
Guyana Space Center in Kourou at 01h17 GMT on 20 November 1993, ESA
will place the satellite at its final position in geostationary orbit,
test it thoroughly and then operate it on behalf of EUMETSAT. 
 
Control of the satellite was taken over by ESA's Operations Centre,
ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, immediately after its separation from the
launcher, 26 minutes after lift-off. For this purpose, a global
network of 4 ground stations operated from ESOC's main mission control
centre, had been set up. 
 
ESOC commenced configuration and check-out of the main electrical
systems during the first hours in orbit, whith Meteosat-6 still in the
elliptical geostationary transfer orbit. On arrival at the  4th
apogee, approximately 37 hours after launch, the apogee boost motor
will be ignited to circularise the orbit and put Meteosat-6 into a
24-hour near-geostationary orbit. 
 
The spacecraft's longitude at this time will be approximately 19dW and
it will be slowly drifting eastwards. The plan is for it to drift past
10dW on 17 December. A further small adjustment may then be made to
the drift rate, taking it to the final 0d longitude by the end of
January 1994. There, the drift motion will be stopped by a small orbit
change obtained by firing the satellite's thrusters. 

The actual commissioning of Meteosat-6 is to be performed while it is
drifting towards its final position, so that ownership of the
satellite can be transferred to EUMETSAT as from early February 1994. 
 
An important event in the commissioning phase is the transmission of
the first image from Meteosat-6, scheduled for the end of November.
The infrared detectors on board have first to be cooled down, and the
first infrared images are expected two days later. However, many more
images will be generated and their quality assessed before the
satellite is declared operational. 
 
EUMETSAT currently intends to make Meteosat-6 the operational
satellite replacing Meteosat-4, which will become the in-orbit back-up
satellite. Meteosat-5, which has served as back-up so far, will then
be moved westwards over the Americas. There it will take over from
Meteosat-3, which has been on loan to the US weather Service, NOAA,
since 1991, until NASA's next-generation geostationary satellites are
launched and become operational. After 5 years of service, Meteosat-3
has little propellant left for orbital manoeuvres, and needs to be
replaced within a couple of months from now. During the 1994 hurricane
season, Meteosat-5 is expected to play an important role in the
detection and real-time tracking of these dangerous events. 
 
Meteosat-6 and Meteosat-7, to be launched at the end of 1995, will
ensure continuity of vital weather data until the turn of the century.
As from the end of 1995, EUMETSAT will take over operations of all
Meteosat satellites from ESA. 
 

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "ESAPRESS list" 30-NOV-1993 14:23:22.15
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	Meteosat-6 acquires first weather image [ESA Release 47-93]

Press Release Nd 47-93
Paris, 29 November 1993

Meteosat-6 acquires first weather image

The Meteosat-6 satellite acquired its first weather image on Monday 29
November 1993 at 14h25. A preliminary assessment has revealed that the
image is of good quality and the radiometer, the satellite's principal
instrument, is in perfect working condition. 

Meteosat-6 was launched on Ariane flight V61 during the night of 19 to
20 November 1993, at 02h.17 Paris time (01h17 GMT). ESA's Operations
Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, took over control of the
spacecraft immediately after separation from the launcher. All
commissioning and check-out operations have since been accomplished
with success. 

The next step will be cooling-down of the radiometer preparatory to
acquisition of images in its two infrared channels. Meteosat-6 is
expected to enter operational service in early February 1994, located
at 0 deg longitude, above the Greenwich Meridian. 

Meteosat-6 was developed and is being operated by ESA on behalf of
EUMETSAT. As from the end of 1995, EUMETSAT will take over operations
of all Meteosat spacecraft from ESA. The Meteosat spacecraft are
manufactured by a consortium of European companies led by Aerospatiale
of France, under contract to ESA. 

Note to editors:
Prints of the first Meteosat-6 image are available from ESA Public
Relations in Paris and at ESOC, Darmstadt, as from Tuesday, 30
November 1993, 09h00. Further information on the first months in orbit
of Meteosat-6 and the scheduled changes in the operations of the other
Meteosat spacecraft can be found in ESA press release Nd 46 of 22
November 1993. 

Article: 79473
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: MAILRP%[email protected]
Subject: Message from Space Digest
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: [via International Space University]
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1993 11:04:18 GMT
 
         Press Release Nd 52-93
         Paris, 10 December 1993
 
         Meteosat-6 : Acceptance-testing continues
 
         Following a successful launch on Ariane Flight 61
         on 20 November last (see ESA Press Release Nd 46-
         93), the Meteosat-6 satellite acquired its first images
         in the visible channel and then, once the radiometer
         had cooled down, was able to begin the acquisition
         of images in the infrared and water-vapour channels.
 
         During quality analysis of the latter images, the
         operations control team detected an anomaly in the
         functioning of the radiometer.  The reasons for the
         anomaly are now being investigated by experts from
         ESA and the firms involved.
 
         In-orbit acceptance testing is nevertheless continuing
         in accordance with the original schedule (see ESA
         Press Release Nd 47-93) and should result in the
         transfer of ownership of the satellite from ESA to
         Eumetsat by the end of February 1994.

Article: 83814
Newsgroups: sci.space
From: MAILRP%[email protected]
Subject: Message from Space Digest
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: [via International Space University]
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 1994 11:02:00 GMT
 
Press Release Nr 07-94
Paris, 4 March 1994
 
Meteosat 6 experiences anomaly
 
Successfully launched on 20 November 1993 on board an Ariane launcher,
ESA's meteorological satellite Meteosat 6 is experiencing an anomaly
in the functioning of the radiometer that affects the spacecraft's
full operational capabilities. 
 
Meteosat takes images of the Earth in three spectral channels, one
visible and two infrared. The visible channel works correctly and
delivers perfect images but the intensity of the signal of the two
infrared channels is not stable. Much important meteorological
information derived from Meteosat data - such as sea surface
temperatures and distribution of cloud-top heights for instance - is
based on infrared images, thus the accuracy of this information
suffers from the anomaly. 
 
The anomaly was discovered in December (see ESA Press Release nr.
52-93) during quality checks of the infrared images. A Task Force
consisting of ESA and industrial members was established with the aim
to analyse the problem. The origin of the anomaly appears to lie in
the radiometer, an instrument which is part of the "telescope" that
constitutes the "eye" of the spacecraft. 
 
To review the findings of the Task Force and to recommend further
action, as of 1 March 1994, the Directors General of ESA and EUMETSAT
have set up an Enquiry Board with the following mandate: 

-   identify the most likely cause of the anomaly and
    recommend actions to overcome the problem;

-   recommend measures to be taken for correcting the
    observed anomaly for following spacecraft of the same kind.
 
The Enquiry Board will present their first conclusions to ESA and
EUMETSAT towards the end of March 1994. 
 

 
	 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuter) - The first in a series of new
U.S. weather satellites is set for launch early Wednesday in
what will become a man-made constellation that is years behind
schedule and more than $800 million over budget.
	 The satellite, GOES-I, is part of an advanced generation of
five weather sentries the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration plans to put into orbit in the next 10 years,
	 The satellite, to be launched on an Atlas rocket, will help
forecasters track hurricanes, tornadoes and severe storms. The
launch is crucial because the nation's weather program currently
relies on a pair of satellites so old that forecasters expect
them to cease functioning at any moment.
	 One satellite was borrowed from Europe and has operated for
three years beyond its scheduled lifetime. The other is the sole
survivor of the first generation of U.S. GOES satellites and is
out of fuel.
	 ``For the past few years we've been sitting on the edge of
our seats,'' said Robert Sheets, director of the National
Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
	 Costs for the five-satellite constellation were estimated at
$276 million in 1983 but ballooned to $1.1 billion, or $220
million each, because of a string of mistakes and technical
problems.
	 ``The biggest problem with this program was too much
optimism on the part of the people who started (it),'' Tom
McGunigal of NOAA said Tuesday.
	 Once in orbit, GOES-I will monitor the Western hemisphere
from a perch 22,300 miles above the equator.
	 ``It will allow us to look with greater precision, greater
accuracy and greater frequency ... than we ever have before,''
Joe Friday, director of the National Weather Service, said.
	 Launch is scheduled between 2 a.m. and 3:22 a.m. EDT
 Wednesday. The Atlas will release GOES-I about 30 minutes
later. It will be several days before the satellite reaches its
final orbit and six months before it is fully checked out and
declared operational.

Article: 3968
From: [email protected] (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.eastern,clari.news.hot.ussr
Subject: Russia Lacks Money to Launch Weather Satellite
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 94 4:40:03 PDT
 
	 MOSCOW (Reuter) - Russia said on Monday it lacked the money
to launch an advanced geostationary weather satellite needed to
complete a global meteorological network.

	 Pavel Zybin, an official at Russian weather monitoring
service Rosgidromet, said the Elektro satellite could have been
launched last year had the money been available.

	 ``The Elektro and booster are still in Moscow and I do not
know when they will be delivered to the Baikonur cosmodrome,''
Zybin said by telephone. He did not say how much the launch
would cost.

	 The satellite, designed to stay above the same spot on earth
at an altitude of 22,350 miles, is supposed to transmit data
about ocean temperature, wind speed and track the development of
cyclones and hurricanes.

	 The satellite is intended to hover above the Indian Ocean,
covering territory from Germany in the west to Khabarovsk in the
east and from the northeastern Russian of Anadyr to Antarctica.

	 Europe, the United States and Japan created an international
system of geostationary satellites in 1977 which covers almost
the entire world. But the Elektro satellite is needed to
complete the jigsaw.

	 Academician Yuri Trifonov, in charge of the project, told
Izvestia newspaper last week he was not sure the launch would
take place soon since the satellite had been lying idle for some
time and needed to be thoroughly checked.

Article: 9549
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-I becomes GOES-8 (28 APRIL)
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 16:13:02 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS (formerly GOES-I), 28 April 94
 
The spacecraft is fine.  It remains locked on the sun with all systems
operating as expected.  The last main thruster firing was successfully
completed yesterday, putting it within a 1000 km of a circular orbit at
36,000 km, and at 94W longitude, drifting to the checkout station at 90W. 
At this point the GOES-I spacecraft was renamed "GOES-8".
 
Post-launch checkout is proceeding through the usual glitches, mainly in
the ground systems.  The spacecraft glitches mainly involve the sun-lock
attitude control system that is used until the momentuum wheels are spun-up
and the spacecraft locks onto the Earth next week.  In NASA jargon, these
glitches are called "single event upsets" (SEUs).  A SEU is usually due to
a cosmic ray or to accumulated static electricity zapping a digital logic
circuit.  The orbit is now up out of the Van Allen belts where SEUs are
most common.  No harm has been done by any glitches, but the deployment
schedule has slipped a few days to be on the safe side.
 
The most important deployment event is the unfolding and pointing of the
solar array, required to power the gyros and instruments.
 
 
EVENT                                DATE      TIME-EDT  STATUS
 Launch
   lift-off: Atlas-Centaur burns   Wed   4/13   2:04 am    OK
   deploy outer solar panel        Wed   4/13   3:20 am    OK
 Circularize Orbit
   apogee maneuver,  8 min burn    Thu   4/14  10:42 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 15 min burn    Mon   4/18   6:00 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 20 min burn    Thu   4/21   3:39 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 42 min burn    Sat   4/23   1:31 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver,  5 min burn    Mon   4/25   2:11 pm    OK
   perigee maneuver, 4 min burn    Wed   4/27   8:26 am    OK
                                GOES-I was renamed GOES-8
 Deploy Peripherals
   turn on MDL data link           Wed   4/27   9:16 am    OK
************************************** YOU ARE HERE ********************
   deploy magnetometer boom        Thu   4/28   5:05 pm
   deploy entire solar array       Thu   4/28   8:00 pm
   magnetic dipole test            Fri   4/29  12:26 pm
   first wheel spin-up (L-mode)    Sat   4/30   7:34 pm
   deploy "solar sail"             Sat   4/30   8:17 pm
   turn Imager on (contam. avoid.) Sat   4/30   9:55 pm
   turn Sounder on ( "       "   ) Sun   5/01   7:08 am
   second wheel spin-up (V-mode)   Sun   5/01   8:34 pm
                            GOES-8 will be 3-axis stabilized
 Post-launch engineering tests (45 days, total)
  many hardware turn-ons and tests.........May 2-6
   begin SEM tests                 Mon   5/04     TBD
   Earth sensor tests              Wed   5/03     TBD
   orbital trim manuever           Wed   5/04     TBD
   orbital trim manuever           Fri   5/06     TBD
                       GOES-8 will be on geosynchronous station
  GVAR broadcasts tests....................May 7-8
   first visible image             Mon   5/09     TBD
   first infrared image            Wed   5/31     TBD
   first Sounder data              Mon   6/06     TBD
 
There are 299 post-launch checkout tests scheduled, with 41 started and 12
completed.
 
In October 1994, after completion of 6 months of on-orbit tune-up, GOES-8
will replace METEOSAT-3 at 75W.
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 9558
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 (29 APRIL)
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 10:20:22 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS, 29 April 94
 
The spacecraft is fine.  It remains locked on the sun with all systems
operating as expected.
 
The last orbit-raising main thruster firing was successfully completed
April 27th.  At this point the GOES-I spacecraft was renamed "GOES-8".  The
main thruster will be "safed" (disabled forever) after solar sail deployment.
 
The unfolding and pointing of the solar array went well April 28th,
providing the power need to start the gyros and instruments during the
following week.
 
The magnetometer boom was successfully deployed.  One dipole sensor
remained saturated for a few hours until it warmed up and behaved normally.
 
Today's manuever releases lock on the sun and tumbles the entire spacecraft
to characterise the magnetic field of the spacecraft for the magnetometer.
 
 
EVENT                                DATE      TIME-EDT  STATUS
 Launch
   lift-off: Atlas-Centaur burns   Wed   4/13   2:04 am    OK
   deploy outer solar panel        Wed   4/13   3:20 am    OK
 Circularize Orbit
   apogee maneuver,  8 min burn    Thu   4/14  10:42 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 15 min burn    Mon   4/18   6:00 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 20 min burn    Thu   4/21   3:39 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 42 min burn    Sat   4/23   1:31 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver,  5 min burn    Mon   4/25   2:11 pm    OK
   perigee maneuver, 4 min burn    Wed   4/27   8:26 am    OK
                                GOES-I was renamed GOES-8
 Deployments
   turn on MDL data link           Wed   4/27   9:16 am    OK
   deploy magnetometer boom        Thu   4/28   5:05 pm    OK
   deploy entire solar array       Thu   4/28   8:00 pm    OK
************************************** YOU ARE HERE ********************
   magnetic dipole tumble test     Fri   4/29  12:26 pm
   first wheel spin-up (L-mode)    Sat   4/30   7:34 pm
   deploy "solar sail"             Sat   4/30   8:17 pm
   turn Imager on (contam. avoid.) Sat   4/30   9:55 pm
   turn Sounder on ( "       "   ) Sat   4/30  10:55 pm?
   second wheel spin-up (V-mode)   Sun   5/01   8:34 pm
                            GOES-8 will be 3-axis stabilized
 Post-launch engineering tests (60 days, total)
  many hardware turn-ons and tests.........May 2-6
   begin SEM tests                 Mon   5/04     TBD
   Earth sensor tests              Wed   5/03     TBD
   orbital trim manuever           Wed   5/04     TBD
   orbital trim manuever           Fri   5/06     TBD
                       GOES-8 will be on geosynchronous station
  GVAR broadcasts tests....................May 7-8
   first visible image             Mon   5/09     TBD
   first infrared image            Wed   5/31     TBD
   first Sounder data              Mon   6/06     TBD
 
There are 299 post-launch checkout tests scheduled, with 41 started and 15
completed.
 
In October 1994, after completion of 6 months of on-orbit tune-up, GOES-8
is scheduled to replace METEOSAT-3 at 75W.
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 9596
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 (2 MAY 94)
Date: Mon, 02 May 1994 13:48:18 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS, 2 May 1994
 
The GOES-8 spacecraft is doing very well.  At this point, all of the risky
rocket maneuvers and deployments are complete and successful, and the
Imager has been exercised.  The first official GOES-8 image comes next
week, after outgasing and communications turn-ons are completed.
 
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...
 
________________________________________________
All glitches so far have been minor and harmless -- better than average for
a new model spacecraft with a complex ground system.  The sun-lock glitches
in the spacecraft stopped after raising the orbit out of the Van Allen
belts early last week.
 
On April 27th, the last orbit-raising main thruster firing was successfully
completed and the orbit circularized.  At this point the GOES-I spacecraft
was renamed "GOES-8".  The main thruster has been "safed" (disabled forever).
 
On April 28th, the unfolding and pointing of the solar array went very
well.  The magnetometer boom was also successfully deployed.  One magnetic
dipole sensor remained saturated for a few hours, until it warmed up and
behaved normally.
 
April 29th's manuever unlocked from the sun and tumbled the entire
spacecraft to characterise the magnetic field of the spacecraft for the
magnetometer.  No problems were reported during this maneuver.
 
April 30th's wheel spin-up and solar sail deployments were successful; the
solar sail was a few minutes slow to deploy completely.  The spacecraft is
now fairly well balanced about its center-of-gravity against torques from
the solar wind.
 
May 1st's turn on of the Imager and Sounder were successful, and the scan
mirrors are now stowed facing inward, to avoid collecting gunk on them
during this week's outgasing.  Before stowage, the Imager's scan mirror was
successfully exercised to produce a few dozen lines of visible imagery, to
demonstrate end-to-end "life" in the imaging system.
 
Conversion over to full 2-gyro earth-lock mode was postponed from Sunady to
mid-week to reorganize the test schedule into more sensible groups.
 
 
EVENT                                DATE      TIME-EDT  STATUS
 Launch
   lift-off: Atlas-Centaur burns   Wed   4/13   2:04 am    OK
   deploy outer solar panel        Wed   4/13   3:20 am    OK
 Circularize Orbit
   apogee maneuver,  8 min burn    Thu   4/14  10:42 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 15 min burn    Mon   4/18   6:00 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 20 min burn    Thu   4/21   3:39 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver, 42 min burn    Sat   4/23   1:31 pm    OK
   apogee maneuver,  5 min burn    Mon   4/25   2:11 pm    OK
   perigee maneuver, 4 min burn    Wed   4/27   8:26 am    OK
                                GOES-I was renamed GOES-8
 Deployments
   turn on MDL data link           Wed   4/27   9:16 am    OK
   deploy magnetometer boom        Thu   4/28   5:05 pm    OK
   deploy entire solar array       Thu   4/28   8:00 pm    OK
   magnetic dipole tumble test     Fri   4/29  12:26 pm    OK
   first wheel spin-up (L-mode)    Sat   4/30   7:34 pm    OK
   deploy "solar sail"             Sat   4/30   8:17 pm    OK
   Imager-Sounder turn-on          Sun   5/01   9:00 am    OK
   Imager-Sounder contam. avoid.   Sun   5/01   6:30 pm    OK
************************************** YOU ARE HERE ********************
 Post-launch engineering tests (60 days, total)
  many hardware turn-ons and tests.........May 2-6
   begin SEM tests                 Mon   5/04     TBD
   trim tab startup                Mon   5/04     TBD
   second wheel spin-up (V-mode)   Tue   5/03     TBD
                      GOES-8 will be completely 3-axis stabilized
   Earth sensor tests              Tue   5/03     TBD
   Communications turn-on          Wed   5/04     TBD
   orbital trim manuever           Wed   5/04     8:00 pm
   orbital trim manuever           Fri   5/06     8:00 am
                       GOES-8 will be on geosynchronous station
  GVAR broadcasts tests....................May 7-8
   first visible image             Mon   5/09     12:30 pm
   first infrared image            Wed   5/31     TBD
   first Sounder data              Mon   6/06     TBD
 
There are 299 post-launch checkout tests scheduled, with 50 started and 28
completed.
 
In October 1994, after completion of 6 months of on-orbit tune-up, NOAA has
scheduled GOES-8 to replace METEOSAT-3 at 75W.
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 9706
From: [email protected] (Tom Whittaker)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-7 & 8 images of today's eclipse
Date: 10 May 1994 20:36:42 GMT
Organization: University of WI, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.
 
We have posted a series of gif images of today's solar eclipse as seen
from both GOES-7 and GOES-8.
 
These images are located at:
 
ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/gopher/gsdc.d/eclipse-8.d/...
 
   (Contains 4 images from GOES-8 at 15 minute intervals, with
    filenames like "GOES8_Eclipse-3.gif") 
 
ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/gopher/gsdc.d/eclipse-7.d/...
 
   (Contains 10 images from GOES-7 at 30 minute intervals, with
    filenames like "GOES7_Eclipse-3.gif") 
 
 
For those coming in via gopher:
 
gopher://gopher.ssec.wisc.edu
 
And select: NOAA Geostationary Satellite Data Active Archive
            GOES-8  Images of Solar Eclipse on 5/10/94:  Short Sequence
    or
            GOES-7  Images of Solar Eclipse on 5/10/94:  Long Sequence
 
 
--
Tom Whittaker                                          [email protected]
Space Science and Eng. Center             University of Wisconsin-Madison

Article: 9737
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 STATUS (12 MAY 94)
Date: Thu, 12 May 1994 14:43:52 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS, 12 May 1994
 
The GOES-8 spacecraft continues to do well on geosychnronous station at 90W.
 
The first official GOES-8 full-earth image was released Monday, May 9th,
and a sequence of 3 images were generated during the solar eclipse on May
10th.  A low resolution visible sector was also successfully generated from
the Sounder.  Low resolution GIF versions of the GOES-8 images are
available on the internet.  The full resolution digital data was broadcast
for those equipped with a GVAR ground system.  There will be only a few
more image broadcasts before the end of May, during the engineering test
phase.
 
Current concerns (none serious):  

(1) The SEM XRS is not yet reporting solar x-ray flux because the solar
panel is unexpectedly facing 8 degrees away from the sun.  This should be
corrected soon.  

(2) Random bit-error noise in the 10-bit visible data is noticeable as
"sparkles" among the blackness of outer space.  The errors are less than 1
in a million, as required by NOAA, but higher than expected.  The
underlying cause is being investigated.  

(3) The spacecraft fires its thrusters briefly a few time each day to
maintain attitude, more often than expected.  The trim tab on the solar
panel will be adjusted until the spacecraft's balance against torques by
the solar wind is improved.  
 
6-MONTH SCHEDULE                     DATE                STATUS
 Launch                            April 13                OK
 Circularize Orbit                 April 14-27             OK
 Basic Deployments                 April 27 - May 1        OK
 Start-ups and liveness tests      May 1-9                 OK
   first official visible image    May 9                   OK!
   images during solar eclipse     May 10                  OK
************************************** YOU ARE HERE ********************
 Outgassing and engineering tests  May 10-30
   first official infrared image     Tue   5/31
   first official Sounder data       Mon   6/06
 Functional tests                  June 1-20
 Image and Navigation spin-up      June 20 - August 20
   NOAA crew starts                   mid-July?
 Imaging and Sounding exercises    August 20 - September 20
 Performance evaluation            September 20-30
 Routine scans                     October 1-20
   NOAA operations begin              mid-October

DETAILED SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
5/12/94                  - MMCTUNE Retest
                         - Continue INR Dynamic Interaction Tests
                         - Periodic Blackbody Calibration Test
                         - MMC Functional Verification Test
                         - Continue Comm Equipment Tests
5/13/94                  - Conclude INR Dynamic Interaction Tests
                         - Transition to V2-Mode Wheel Control
                         - Continue Comm Equipment Tests
5/16/94                  - AOCS Dynamic Interaction Tests (2950RPM)
                         - Solar Environment Monitor (SEM) Tests
5/17/94                  - AOCS Dynamic Interaction Tests (2950RPM)
                         - Solar Environment Monitor (SEM) Tests
                         - AOCS Characterization at 2950 RPM
5/18/94                  - MMCTUNE at 2950 RPM
                         - AOCS Characterization at 2950 RPM
 
There are 310 post-launch checkout tests currently scheduled, with 104
started and 60 completed.
 
After 6 months of on-orbit tune-up, NOAA plans to use GOES-8 to replace
METEOSAT-3 at 75W, after the 1994 hurricane season, no sooner than
mid-October.
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 9799
From: [email protected] (Tom Whittaker)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: Info on GOES-8 sensors
Date: 19 May 1994 17:41:30 GMT
Organization: University of WI, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.
 
I have received several requests for this info...hope it helps...
 
                                  GOES-8 Bands
 
Imaging Channels Allocation
                                                Meteorological Objective
Channel   Wavelength        Range of            Objective and Maximum
Number    Range (um)        Measurement         Temperature Range
 
1         0.55 to 0.75      1.6 to 100% albedo  Cloud cover
2         3.80 to 4.00        4 to 320 K        Nighttime clouds(space-340 k)
3         6.50 to 7.00        4 to 320 K        Water vapor (space - 290 K)
4         10.20 to 11.20      4 to 320 K        Surface temp(space - 340 K)
5         11.50 to 12.50      4 to 320 K        Sea surface temp and water
                                                vapor (space - 335 K)
 
 
Sounder Detectors Channel Allocation
                                             Meteorological
          Channel   Wavelength     Wave No.  Objective and Maximum
Detector  Number      (um)         (cm -1)   Temperature Range
 
Longwave  1          14.71          680      Temperature (space - 280 K)
          2          14.37          696         Sounding (space - 280 K)
          3          14.06          711         Sounding (space - 290 K)
          4          13.64          733         Sounding (space - 310 K)
          5          13.37          748         Sounding (space - 320 K)
          6          12.66          790         Sounding (space - 330 K)
          7          12.02          832         Surface temp(space - 340 K)
Midwave   8          11.03          907         Surface temp(space - 345 K)
          9           9.71         1030         Total ozone (space - 330 K)
         10           7.43         1345         Water vapor (space - 310 K)
         11           7.02         1425         Sounding (space - 295 K)
         12           6.51         1535         Sounding (space - 290 K)
Shortwave
         13           4.57         2188         Temperature (space - 320 K)
         14           4.52         2210         Sounding (space - 310 K)
         15           4.45         2248         Sounding (space - 295 K)
         16           4.13         2420         Sounding (space - 340 K)
         17           3.98         2513         Surface temp(space - 345 K)
         18           3.74         2671         Temperature (space - 345 K)
Visible  19           0.70        14367         Cloud
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
--
Tom Whittaker                                          [email protected]
Space Science and Eng. Center             University of Wisconsin-Madison


Article: 9800
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 STATUS (19 MAY)
Date: Thu, 19 May 1994 14:57:24 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS, 19 May 1994
 
The GOES-8 spacecraft continues to do well on geosynchronous station
at 90W.  Communications tests have gone well during the last week. 
The angular momentum wheels have been spun-down to 2900 rpm to extend
their expected lifetime.  This resulted in less high-frequency jitter
with little increase in low frequency wobble -- an unexpectedly nice
result. 
 
Test images are being generated a few times per day during the
engineering tests to the end of May.  In addition to full-earth
pictures, shots of the Moon's shadow on the USA and of the Moon itself
have been made.  GIF versions of the GOES-8 images are available on
the internet.  The full resolution digital data is being broadcast for
those equipped with a GVAR ground system. 
 
The 10-bit visible imagery is noticeably better than GOES-7's.
Consequently, a full-Earth frame from GOES-8 has been scheduled for
Friday, 2:00 pm EDT, to co-incide with the routine GOES-7 frame.  The
user community is invited to make side-by-side comparisons, with the
expectation that contrast and cloudtop details will be much better
with GOES-8, but maybe not image stability, since GOES-8's pointing
corrections are not running yet. 
 
Recent concerns (none serious):  

(1) The SEM XRS was not reporting solar x-ray flux because the solar panel
was facing 8 degrees away from the sun.  This has been corrected.  
(2) Random bit-error noise in the 10-bit visible data causes occasional
"sparkles".  The errors are less than 1 in a million, as required by NOAA,
but higher than expected.  The underlying cause is still being investigated.  
(3) The spacecraft was firing its thrusters a few times each day to
maintain attitude, more often than expected.  The trim tab on the solar
panel is being adjusted to ballance the spacecraft's against torques by the
solar wind, and attitude adjustements are now down to a few per week, as
designed.  
 
6-MONTH SCHEDULE                     DATE                STATUS
 Launch                            April 13                OK
 Circularize Orbit                 April 14-27             OK
 Basic Deployments                 April 27 - May 1        OK
 Start-ups and liveness tests      May 1-9                 OK
   first official visible image    May 9                   OK!
   images during solar eclipse     May 10                  OK
 Outgassing and engineering tests  May 10-30               TBD
************************************** YOU ARE HERE ********************
   first official infrared image     Tue   5/31
   first official Sounder data       Mon   6/06
 Functional tests                  June 1-20
 Image and Navigation spin-up      June 20 - August 20
   NOAA crew starts                   mid-July?
 Imaging and Sounding exercises    August 20 - September 20
 Performance evaluation            September 20-30
 Routine scans                     October 1-20
   NOAA operations begin              mid-October
 
SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
DATE      TIME           EVENT:COMMENTS
-------   ---------      ----------------------------------------
5/19/94                  - Imager/Sounder Data Quality Test
                         - AOCS "Batwing" Characterization Test
                         - INR Dynamic Interaction Tests
                           Repetitive Scans Test
                           Periodic Blackbody Calibrations Test
                         - MMC Functional Test
                         - OATS Trim Tab Startup
5/20/94                  - AOCS "Batwing" Characterization Test
                         - INR Dynamic Interaction Tests
                         - Heater Magnetic Interference Test
                         - Final segment of Mag. Torquer Diurnal
                           Stability Test
                         - Sensor Processing System (SPS) GVAR Filter Test
                         - GOES-8/GOES-7 Full Earth Image Comparison
                         - OATS Trim Tab Startup
5/21/94                  - AOCS "Batwing" Characterization Test
          10:00 EDT      - Earth Sensor South Chord Lunar Intrusion
 
NOTE:     The Instrument Cooler Cover Deployment scheduled for the
evening of 5/27/94 has been moved up one day to 5/26/94.
 
There are 311 post-launch checkout tests currently scheduled, with 115
started, 60 completed, and 1 requires a repeat.
 
After 6 months of on-orbit tune-up, NOAA plans to use GOES-8 to replace
METEOSAT-3 at 75W, after the 1994 hurricane season, no sooner than
mid-October.
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 9851
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 STATUS (24 MAY 94)
Date: Tue, 24 May 1994 18:22:30 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS, 24 May 1994
 
The GOES-8 spacecraft continues to do well on geosynchronous station at
90W.  Communications tests have gone well during the last week.  The
angular momentum wheels have been spun-down to 2900 rpm to extend their
expected lifetime.  This resulted in less high-frequency jitter with little
increase in low frequency wobble -- an unexpectedly nice result.
 
Test images are being generated a few times per day during the engineering
tests to the end of May.  In addition to full-earth pictures, shots of the
Moon's shadow on the USA and of the Moon itself have been made.  GIF
versions of the GOES-8 images are available on the internet.  The full
resolution digital data is being broadcast for those equipped with a GVAR
ground system.
 
The 10-bit visible imagery is noticeably better than GOES-7's. 
Consequently, a full-Earth frame from GOES-8 was run Friday, 2:00 pm EDT,
to co-incide with the routine GOES-7 frame.  The user community is invited
to make side-by-side comparisons, with the expectation that contrast and
cloudtop details will be much better with GOES-8, but maybe not image
stability, since GOES-8's pointing corrections are not running yet.
 
Recent concerns (none serious):  

(1) Random bit-error noise in the 10-bit visible data causes occasional
"sparkles".  The errors are less than 1 in a million, as required by NOAA,
but higher than expected.  The underlying cause is still being investigated.  

(2) The spacecraft jiggles around midnight, due to sunglint in the earth
sensors.  The jiggle looks like Batman's wing on time-history telemetry
graphs, so its study is being called "batwing" characterization.  The
attitude control group is working to minimize impact.  Fortunately,
pointing-sensitive visible imagery is irrelevant at midnight.
 
6-MONTH SCHEDULE                     DATE                STATUS
 Launch                            April 13                OK
 Circularize Orbit                 April 14-27             OK
 Basic Deployments                 April 27 - May 1        OK
 Start-ups and liveness tests      May 1-9                 OK
   first official visible image    May 9                   OK!
   images during solar eclipse     May 10                  OK
 Outgassing and engineering tests  May 10-30               TBD
************************************** YOU ARE HERE ********************
   first official infrared image     Tue   5/31
   first official Sounder data       Mon   6/06
 Functional tests                  June 1-20
 Image and Navigation spin-up      June 20 - August 20
   NOAA crew starts                   mid-July?
 Imaging and Sounding exercises    August 20 - September 20
 Performance evaluation            September 20-30
 Routine scans                     October 1-20
   NOAA operations begin              mid-October
 
TECHNICAL STATUS
- GOES-8 health and safety remain nominal
- AOCE #2 is On in Normal On-Orbit Mode
- AOCE Gain Slew Patch is operational
- Using V2-Mode Wheel Control at 2900 RPM
- Trim Tab position optimization is continuing
- Earth Sensor #2 is being used for control and telemetry
- Magnetic torquers are being used for control
- The CDA-A and DSN-A telemetry transmitters are On
- Commanding is via the NOAA/Wallops station
- DSN remains in use for ranging
- Both the Imager and Sounder are On with Side 1 selected
- Instrument outgassing is proceeding in the High Power Mode
- Instrument contamination avoidance procedures are being employed daily
- All SEM equipment is turned On and calibrations performed daily
 
SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
DATE      TIME           EVENT:COMMENTS
-------   ---------      ----------------------------------------
5/24/94                  - AOCS "Batwing" Characterization Test*
                         - Imager/Sounder Functional Tests
                         - Operations Ground Equipment (OGE) Tests
                         - OATS Trim Tab Optimization
5/25/94                  - AOCS "Batwing" Characterization Test*
                         - Imager/Sounder Functional Tests
                         - Operations Ground Equipment (OGE) Tests
                         - Imager Visible Normalization
                         - OATS Trim Tab Optimization
5/26/94                  - Imager/Sounder Functional Tests
                         - Operations Ground Equipment (OGE) Tests
          23:00 EDT      - Instrument Cooler Cover Deployment
                         - Sounder Visible Normalization
                         - OATS Trim Tab Optimization
5/27/94                  - Imager/Sounder Functional Tests
                         - Sounder Visible Normalization
                         - Operations Ground Equipment (OGE) Tests
                         - Imager Patch Cooldown
                         - Imager IR Bias Power On
                         - OATS Trim Tab OptimizatioN
* The "Batwing" phenomena refers to reflected sunlight entering the
Earth Sensor at satellite midnight.
 
NOTE:     The Instrument Cooler Cover Deployment scheduled for the
evening of 5/27/94 has been moved up one day to 5/26/94.
 
There are 312 post-launch checkout tests currently scheduled, with 121
started, 70 completed.
 
After 6 months of on-orbit tune-up, NOAA plans to use GOES-8 to replace
METEOSAT-3 at 75W, after the 1994 hurricane season, no sooner than
mid-October.
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 10082
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 STATUS (11 JUNE 94)
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 1994 20:36:23 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
GOES-8 STATUS, 11 June 1994
 
The GOES-8 spacecraft is doing well on geosynchronous station at 90W. 
The first official IR image was taken on May 31, and the first
official IR Sounder data was taken June 6.  Informal side-by-side
comparisons of corresponding GOES-7 and GOES-8 visible and infrared
images indicate that GOES-8 provides superior clarity at the same
horizontal resolution, as we expected.  Pointing stability and
navigation information will be developed during the June 20 to August
20 spin-up of these systems. 
 
During functional tests, the GOES-8 Search and Rescue (SAR) system had
an unexpected verification when it picked up the distress signal from
a craft.  The signal was verified by NOAA's polar orbiter, and
rescuers were sent. The GOES SAR cannot provide the earth location a
distress signal, but it does provide immediate notice and the serial
number (owner) of the signal package. 
 
Current concerns:  

(1) The spacecraft rolls a little around midnight, apparently due to
sunglint into the earth sensors.  The roll error looks like Batman's
wing on telemetry graphs, so its study is call "batwing
characterization". Without compensation, the roll would result in a
cycle of north-south pointing errors as large as +-10 km in the hour
around midnight, when the NOAA requirements are +-4 km.  The attitude
control group is working to minimize impact, which should be possible
for a slow and predictable roll. 

(2) The Imager suffers from single-pixel errors termed
"salt-and-pepper noise", particularly in the visible channels.  The
errors are only a cosmetic distraction, not a problem for NOAA's use
in forecasting.  The underlying cause is still being investigated. 
 
There are 24 "technical incident reports" of unexpected telemetry or
behavior to be investigated.  None of them are serious.  The number is
typical for a brand new spacecraft with many subsystems. 
 
___________________________________________
UP_TO_DATE INFORMATION, USING INTERNET:
anonymous ftp://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/chesters/goes 
usenet news:sci.geo.meteorology  
Mosaic http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/~chesters/Home.html
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist -- [email protected]

Article: 2189
From: Fred Gunther <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: sci.space.tech
Subject: Weather Sats. Convergence
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 1994 11:05:15 -0400 (EDT)
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access
 
> EOS.NEWS UPDATE - Friday, May 13, 1994  
 
CONVERGENCE DECISION
 
 On May 5, Presint Clinton approved the convergence of civil and
military polar-orbiting satellite systems into a single operational
program. Currently, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) acquire and operate
separate polar-orbiting environmental satellite systems which collect
data needed for military and civil weather forecasting.  The decision
requires convergence of the DOD Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program (DMSP) and the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellite (POES) program. This will result in a single national system
which will provide data needed to meet U.S. civil and national
security requirements, and to fulfill international obligations.  EOS,
and potentially other NASA programs, will provide new remote sensing
and spacecraft technologies which could improve the operational
capabilities of the converged system.  The decision implements a
recommendation contained in the National Performance Review, published
last September.  The savings are estimated to be up to $300 million
during 1996-1999, with additional savings thereafter. 
 
CONVERGENCE PLAN
 
The goal of the converged program is to reduce the cost of acquiring
and operating polar orbiting operational environmental satellites,
while continuing to satisfy U.S. operational civil and national
security requirements. As part of this goal, the operational program
will incorporate appropriate aspects of the NASA EOS.  The converged
program will be conducted in accordance with the following principles:
(1) operational environmental data from polar-orbiting satellites are
important to the achievement of U.S. economic, national security,
scientific, and foreign policy goals; (2) assured access to
operational environmental data will be provided to meet civil and
national security requirements and international obligations; (3) the
U.S. will ensure its ability to selectively deny critical
environmental data to an adversary during crisis or war yet ensure the
use of such data by U.S. and Allied military forces -- such data will
be made available to other users when it no longer has military
utility; and (4) the implementing actions will be accommodated within
the overall resource policy guidance of the President. 
 
The converged system on-orbit architecture will consist of 3
low-Earth-orbiting satellites. This is a reduction fr the rrent 4
satellites (2 civilian and 2 military). The orbits of the 3 satellites
will be spaced evenly throughout the day with nominal equatorial
crossing times of 5:30, 9:30 and 1:30. This converged system can
accommodate international cooperation, including the open distribution
of environmental data. 
 
A single Integrated Program Office (IPO) staffed by representatives of
DOD, DOC, and NASA will be established by October 1, 1994 to plan for,
design, acquire and operate the next generation polar-orbiting weather
satellite system for the U.S.A.  The DOC, through NOAA, will have lead
agency responsibility for the converged system.  NOAA will have lead
agency responsibility to support the IPO for satellite operations. 
NOAA will also have the lead for interfacing with national and
international civil user communities, consistent with national
security and foreign policy requirements.  DOD will have lead agency
responsibility to support the IPO in major systems acquisitions.  
NASA will have lead agency responsibility to support the IPO in
facilitating the development and insertion of new cost-effective
technologies to meet operational requirements.  The 3 agencies are
developing a process for identifying, validating, and documenting
requirements for the converged system. The three agencies will jointly
pursue negotiations with the European Organization for the Exploitation 
of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) on a European-built and operated 
satellite as part of the converged system.
 

Article: 10255
From: [email protected] (Dennis Chesters)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology
Subject: GOES-8 STATUS (24 JUNE 1994)
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 15:26:29 -0400
Organization: NASA Goddard Lab for Atmospheres, Greenbelt, MD
 
===================================================
GOES-8 STATUS
===================================================
The GOES-8 spacecraft is doing well on geosynchronous station at 90W.
The month of engineering characterization testing is now complete. The
image navigation and registration (INR) system will be spun-up during
the next two months. 

Imager and Sounder detectors are being operated at 101 K, the
high-noise plateau expected during the summer months because the
cooler is sun-loaded on the north face of the satellite. NASA training
of the NOAA operators has begun for turn-over in mid-August. 
 
Currently, Imager visible data is being Earth-located to within 4
kilometer accuracy. A test attitude solution is being derived daily,
working toward a refined orbit and attitude solution. Once this is
accomplished, preliminary star sensing can begin; hopefully on Monday,
6/27/94. 
_______________
Dennis Chesters
GOES Project Scientist
[email protected]

Article: 10544
Newsgroups: sci.misc
From: [email protected] (Greg Ushomirskiy)
Subject: GOES SPACE ENVIRONMENT DATA ON CD-ROM
Sender: [email protected] (Greg Ushomirskiy)
Organization: National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Co, USA
Date: Sat, 2 Jul 1994 21:05:24 GMT
 
GOES SPACE ENVIRONMENT DATA ON CD-ROM
January 1986 - April 1994
1-minute and 5-minute Averages
 
Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division of the National Geophysical Data Center
is pleased to announce availability of GOES SPACE ENVIRONMENT DATA on CD-ROM.
Put seven years of key space environment parameters right on your desktop!  
This CD-ROM and the accompanying software tools provide instant access to 
data that are an excellent resource for studying solar activity and its 
effects in near-earth space.
 
MAGNETIC STORMS
A twin-fluxgate spinning sensor measures the three mutually perpendicular
components of the Earth's magnetic field with the accuracy of up to 0.2
nanoTesla.
 
SOLAR FLARES
Ion chamber detectors provide whole-sun X-ray fluxes for the 0.5-to-4.0
and 1-to-8 Angstrom wavelength bands.  These observations provide a
sensitive means of detecting the start of solar flares.
 
PARTICLE EVENTS
Solid-state detectors with pulse-height discrimination measure photon,
alpha particle, and electron fluxes.  Because the spacecraft travel in a
geostationary orbit, the lower energy channels respond primarily to
trapped outer-zone particles.  The remaining channels measure solar
particle and gallactic cosmic rays.
 
The electron detector measures the flux of electrons with energies above
2 MeV.  THe proton detectors measure 7 energy bands from 0.6 to 500
MeV.  The alpha particle detectors measure 7 energy channels from 3.8
to 500 MeV.
 
DISPLAY AND ANALYSIS SOFTWARE
The CD-ROM includes software to display and analyze the Space
Environment Monitor data.  DOS and IDL (Interactive Data Language)
versions of the software allow the use of data on practically any
platform (DOS, Windows, Unix, VMS, and Macintosh).
 
HIGER RESOLUTION?
GOES data at 3.06 second resolution with continious coverage from
July 1974 to present can be placed on a custom designed CD-ROM.  Please
contact us for details.
 
ABOUT NGDC
The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), located in Boulder Colorado,
is a part of NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information
Service.  NGDC manages environmental data in the fields of solar-terrestrial
physics, solid earth geophysics, marine geology, and paleoclimatology.  For
more information about the data and services available from NGDC please
contact us at [email protected].
 
For details or to order:
 
e-mail:		[email protected]	(GOES only)
		[email protected]		(general information)
 
WWW:		http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/stp.html
 
Phone:		(303) 497-6761
 
Fax:		(303) 497-6513
 
US. Mail	Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division
		National Geophysical Data Center
		NOAA Code E/GC2
		325 Broadway
		Boulder, CO  80303
 
-- 
Greg Ushomirskiy                        #include <std_disclaimer.h>
[email protected]
National Geophysical Data Center
NOAA, US. Department of Commerce

Article: 10786
From: [email protected] (Chad Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology,sci.geo.eos,comp.infosystems.gis
Subject: NOAA-NASA GOES Pathfinder data available
Date: 29 Jul 1994 18:40:53 GMT
Organization: University of WI, Madison -- Computer Sciences Dept.
 
    The Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of
    Wisconsin-Madison is pleased to announce that the NOAA-NASA GOES
    Pathfinder Data Set is now accessible via gopher and ftp.
 
WHAT IS THE NOAA-NASA GOES PATHFINDER DATA SET
 
     The GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite)
     Pathfinder Data Set was  generated at SSEC using full resolution
     GOES imagery from the Goestationary National Archive.
     This Data Set includes the following products from May 4,
     1987 through November 30, 1988 (Benchmark Period):

	  1)  8 km products
	  2)  70 km equal area statistics products
	  3)  24 km browse of the 8 km products
	  4)  9 panel browse of the 70 km statistics
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE GOES PATHFINDER DATA SET PRODUCTS
 
     The 8 km products include hourly MSI (Multispectral Imaging)
     and all the Dwell Sounding images  available in the GOES-7 data
     stream.  The products include all bands present in the full
     resolution data.  The infrared (IR) bands are sampled while the
     visible band is averaged.
 
     The 70 km equal area statistics products are statistical
     analysis of the visible and the infrared data generated from
     the 8 km products.  Each 70 km product can have up to 32 bands of
     data. The number of bands and specific band availability is
     dependent on the band availability of the source MSI.
 
     The 24 km browse products are GIF files produced from a 3-fold
     reduction of the 8 km products. Each 24 km GIF represents
     a single band of an 8 km product.  These GIFS include the
     visible, 11.2 micron (Window) and the 6.7 micron (Water Vapor)
     channels when available at the synoptic hours (0,3,6,...UTC).
 
     The 9 Panel browse composites are GIF files from the GOES
     Pathfinder multibanded equal area  statistics products.  Each of
     the 9 panels represents a single band for a synoptic hour.  All
     bands are not present in every time period.
 
DATA AVAILABILITY
 
     A RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) system is
     utilized to store the GOES Pathfinder products.  The 70 km
     statistic products and the 9 Panel browse for the entire
     Benchmark period are present and will be maintained on the RAID.
     Due to the size of the 8 km data set, the complete benchmark
     period cannot be on-line at one time.  The 8 km data will be
     available in groups of 21 days with the entire group changing
     weekly.  As each group of 8 km products is put on-line, the 24 km
     browse products for the synoptic hours will be generated and then
     maintained on the RAID system.  The complete Product Availability
     Schedule is available on gopher and via ftp.
 
WHERE TO FIND THE NOAA-NASA GOES PATHFINDER DATA SET
 
     Browse products may be viewed via gopher  diamond.ssec.wisc.edu
     (144.92.108.49).
     All products may be downloaded via anonymous ftp diamond.ssec.wisc.edu
     (144.92.108.49).
 
WHERE TO DIRECT QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
 
     If you have questions, comments or need more information about the
     specific products included in this data set,  please contact SSEC
     Pathfinder Operations at: [email protected].
 
-- 
Chad W. Johnson
[email protected]
Space Science and Engineering Center
University of Wisconsin -- Madison

From:	US1RMC::"[email protected]" "HILL, DIANNE" 21-SEP-1994 00:31:55.77
CC:	
Subj:	94-157 INVESTIGATION PANEL RELEASES REPORT ON NOAA-13 FAILURE

Brian Dunbar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

September 20, 1994
(Phone:  202/358-0873)

10 a.m. EDT

Jim Elliott
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone:  301/286-6256)

Pat Viets
NOAA/NESDIS, Suitland, Md.
(Phone:  301/763-2560)

Jim Tierney
Martin Marietta Astro Space, East Windsor, N.J.
(Phone:  609/490-6991)

RELEASE:  94-157

INVESTIGATION PANEL RELEASES REPORT ON NOAA-13 FAILURE

     The probable cause of the failure of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration-13 (NOAA-13) meteorological
satellite in August 1993 was a short circuit that prevented the
solar array current from powering the spacecraft and recharging
the batteries, according to a 12-member investigating board,
whose report was released today.

     In a 36-page report, the board indicated that the failure
most likely occurred in a battery charge assembly on the
spacecraft.  Based on telemetry from the satellite, the board
indicated the most probable cause was a 1.25-inch screw that
extended too far below an aluminum plate designed to dissipate
heat.  The screw end penetrated the insulation and made contact
with a radiator plate, causing the short circuit.

     The short circuit effectively prevented the solar arrays
from powering the spacecraft, forcing the spacecraft to rely on
its batteries, according to the board's findings.  Without power
from the solar arrays, the batteries could not recharge and
exhausted their power, leaving the satellite with no power
to operate its instruments or to communicate with the ground.

     "The board concluded that the design of the charge assembly
is prone to a failure of this type," said Jeremiah Madden of
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., who chaired
the board.  "The design requires meticulous construction
procedures, and there are many areas where a short could occur."

     The board termed the design of the battery charge assembly
"unforgiving," indicating that "it cannot be checked once it is
assembled since the heat sink cannot be removed or easily X-rayed."

     Launched into a 540-mile (870-kilometer) near polar orbit on
an Atlas rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on August
9, 1993, the $77 million spacecraft operated normally until
August 21.  During orbit 175, 12 minutes after the satellite's
last communication with the NOAA Command and Data Acquisition
site at Wallops, Va., the short circuit occurred, the board found.

     When controllers communicated with the satellite and found
it operating normally on orbit 175, they followed standard
procedures and turned their attention to other operational
satellites.  Controllers did not communicate with NOAA-13 again
until orbit 177.  At that point the operations crew noted
battery low voltage and high temperature flags on all three
batteries, which were the first indications of a problem, the
board reported.

     Controllers were unable to acquire a signal from the
spacecraft on orbit 178, the board noted, and orbits 179 and 180
were not monitored because the spacecraft did not pass over
either the ground station at Wallops or the other ground station
monitoring the satellite at Fairbanks, Alaska.

     On orbit 181, satellite recovery procedures were started;
however, no further signals from the satellite were received.

     In reaching its conclusion as to probable cause, the board
looked at hardware being used to build NOAA-J, the next
spacecraft in the NOAA series, targeted for launch in December.
The team compared 12 relay mounting screws from the stock used
for NOAA-J, with dimensions of the NOAA-J relay mounting.

     The team found that 10 of the 12 screws were long enough to
penetrate into the insulation layer on NOAA-J, lending "credence
to the possibility that the failure on NOAA-13 was due to such a
screw," the board reported.

     The team reported that a "major contributor" to the failure
was the "poor packaging design" of the battery charge assembly
heat sink plate "that allows numerous places for shorts, requires
unique insulation schemes and demands tightly controlled careful
assembly."

     Another major contributor reported by the board was "poor
processing and inspection" of the charge assembly.  There was no
procedure, the board indicated, that underlined the importance of
"making sure nothing protrudes beyond the bottom of the heat
sink.  The inspection seemed to be the responsibility of the
technician that puts the unit together rather than that of an 
inspection by a quality assurance engineer," the board concluded.

     Although there was a specific manufacturing instruction to
check the box for protrusion, "the quality control plan for
building the BCX box (battery charge assembly box) was
inadequate," according to the team.  "There were not
enough checks performed on the unit as it was being built.  The
procedures were not adequate to inform the technician of the
criticality of the unit and to give him specific instructions on
how to check his work."

     The team attributed the lack of inspection partially to the
repeated successful flights of this BCX design.  "The use of
previously flown hardware tends to lessen the overview it
receives," the board suggested.  "This unit's heritage goes back
to at least 1972.  The first assembly technicians were
probably extremely careful and understood the criticality of the
design; however, in time and with personnel changing, there was
probably some loss of knowledge and awareness."

     The board made 21 recommendations for future NOAA
spacecraft, included as appendices to the report.  The
recommendations included a thorough review of and modification to
elements of the spacecraft's power system, closer monitoring of
work in process by experienced personnel, modification of the
heat sink in the battery charge assembly and improvements in some
of the spacecraft's software.

     Among the specific points the board made were
recommendationsfor high-voltage tests to verify the insulation
and the incorporation of software that would reduce power
consumption if on-board computers were to detect low
battery charges.  All of the board's recommendations regarding
the NOAA spacecraft are being implemented by the project office.

     The failure team also recommended that NOAA upgrade its
ground stations so that health and safety telemetry may be taken
from operational satellites during every orbit.  NOAA officials
have committed to adopting all of the board's recommendations as
soon as practicable, said Gary Davis, Deputy Director of
Satellite Operations for NOAA.

     To correct the NOAA-13 deficiencies on the NOAA-J
spacecraft, modifications in the area where the failure most
probably occurred have been made, according to Charles Thienel,
Associate Director of Flight Projects for Meteorological
Satellites at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

     The modifications addressed all of the potential failure
causes mentioned in the report.  Most importantly, the radiator
plate in the charge assembly is no longer "hot," or carrying
electric current.  Even if a screw were to touch the plate, as
may have happened on NOAA-13, there would be no short circuit.

     Moreover, he said, additional inspections and tests were
implemented on NOAA-J.  The project team also has developed
flight software that will allow ground controllers more time to
deal with a power-system problem by isolating a short circuit,
effectively removing the affected subsystem from the spacecraft's
power system.

     Also, Thienel explained, an exhaustive review was undertaken
on NOAA-J by an independent team to look carefully at every
spacecraft system and subsystem.  The review will verify that all
inspections and tests were carried out to demonstrate compliance
with the mission requirements.

     The NOAA prime contractor and builder, Martin Marietta Astro
Space, East Windsor, N.J., in addition to making the specific
changes recommended by the NOAA-13 board, has undertaken
intensive reviews of the design, manufacture and testing of every
satellite it is building.  For NASA, these satellites include the
Landsat 7 and EOS-AM1 Earth-observing spacecraft and the Wind and
Polar space science missions.

     Failure team members were Jeremiah J. Madden, Associate
Director of Flight Projects, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),
Chairman; James Murphy, Flight Projects Directorate (GSFC),
Recording Secretary; H. Richard Freeman, Chief Engineer,
Engineering Directorate (GSFC); John Pandelides and Donald
Lokerson, Flight Projects Directorate (GSFC); Edward Gaddy,
Engineering Directorate (GSFC); Alfred L. Seivold, Flight
Assurance Directorate (GSFC); Thomas E. McGunigal, Systems
Acquisition Office, NOAA; Gary Davis, National Environmental
Satellite, Data and Information Service, NOAA; James Greaves,
Office of Mission to Planet Earth, NASA Headquarters; Michael
Greenfield, NASA Headquarters and William J. Middendorf, NASA
Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.

     F. John Solman III and Angelo Colao, of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Mass., served as
consultants to the board, and Josef Wonsever, NASA Headquarters,
David Coolidge, Flight Projects Directorate  (GSFC), and Wilfred
Mazur, NOAA, served as advisors to the panel.

     NOAA's polar-orbiting satellite program is a cooperative
effort with NASA.  The space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center
develops and procures the spacecraft before turning them over to
NOAA for operations.  Copies of the NOAA-13 failure report are
available in the newsrooms at NASA Headquarters, Goddard Space
Flight Center, Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center.

 - end -

% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% From: "HILL, DIANNE" <[email protected]>
% Subject: 94-157 INVESTIGATION PANEL RELEASES REPORT ON NOAA-13 FAILURE
% Date: Tue, 20 Sep 94 08:46:00 PDT
% Message-Id: <[email protected]>
% Sender: [email protected]