The latest polar-orbiting operational environmental weather satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), called NOAA-N Prime, arrived Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in preparation for a February 4, 2009 launch. NOAA-N Prime, built by Lockheed Martin, is similar to NOAA-N launched on May 20, 2005.
The satellite will be launched from the Western Range at Vandenberg AFB by a United Launch Alliance two-stage Delta II rocket managed by NASA’s Launch Service Program at the Kennedy Space Center.
NOAA-N Prime is the latest satellite in the Advanced Television Infrared Observational Satellites -N series. It will provide a polar-orbiting platform to support environmental monitoring instruments for imaging and measuring the Earth’s atmosphere, its surface and cloud cover, including Earth radiation, atmospheric ozone, aerosol distribution, sea surface temperature, and vertical temperature and water profiles in the troposphere and stratosphere.
The satellite will assist in measuring proton and electron fluxes at orbit altitude, collecting data from remote platforms and will assist the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking system.
Fore more information, please visit www.noaa.gov
