>From CASI Member MAWS: Mid-Atlantic Weather Station (General List) - http://members.aol.com/herb0412/index.html "Plans to launch a backup severe-weather watcher into orbit" (Source: Various News Services, 4/27/99) ======================================== A spare satellite or simply a backup? Some might say times are flush at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Others, who know how forecasts would suffer if one of the two existing GOES satellites were to stop working, would call it prudent. On May 15, NOAA and NASA plan to launch a backup geostationary satellite into orbit, the agencies announced today. The satellite will be stored in orbit, officials said, ready for use in the event that either of the other two fails. Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites orbit at a constant speed in sync with Earth's rotation, allowing them to maintain the same view of Earth all the time. The real-time weather data gathered by GOES satellites -- combined with data from Doppler radars, other surface observing systems, ships and buoys and even airplanes -- provides the backbone for all daily weather forecasts, including localized tornado watches and large-scale hurricane predictions. "GOES satellites help our forecasters to see both the big picture and small-scale storm features," said Jack Kelly, director of the National Weather Service. "Since they are designed to be stationary, GOES satellites act as steady eyes on the ever-changing weather and climate." Two meteorological satellites currently hover in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator. NOAA GOES-10, launched on April 25, 1997, watches the West Coast and out into the Pacific to Hawaii. NOAA GOES-8, launched in April 1994, keeps an eye the East Coast out into the Atlantic Ocean. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ************************************************* Central Atlantic Storm Investigators Mailing-List To Post: casilist{at}weatherwatchers.org To Cancel: lists-admin{at}weatherwatchers.org Archive: /members/casilist *************************************************