NASA NPP Satellite: Launched

The Delta II arcs into the night sky carrying NASA's NPP Environmental satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

NASA NPP: New Type of Earth-Observing Satellite for Launch

NPP inside a clean room at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Credit: NASA/30th Communications Squadron, VAFB.

NASA is planning an Oct. 27 launch of the first Earth-observing satellite to measure both global climate changes and key weather variables.

The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) is the first mission designed to collect critical data to improve weather forecasts in the short-term and increase our understanding of long-term climate change.

NPP continues observations of Earth from space that NASA has pioneered for more than 40 years.

NPP's five science instruments, including four new state-of-the-art sensors, will provide scientists with data to extend more than 30 key long-term datasets.

These records, which range from the ozone layer and land cover to atmospheric temperatures and ice cover, are critical for global change science.

"NPP's observations of a wide range of interconnected Earth properties and processes will give us the big picture of how our planet changes," said Jim Gleason, NPP project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

"That will help us improve our computer models that predict future environmental conditions. Better predictions will let us make better decisions, whether it is as simple as taking an umbrella to work today or as complex as responding to a changing climate."

NPP serves as a bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System of satellites and the planned Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), which will collect climate and weather data. JPSS will be developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA meteorologists will incorporate NPP data into their weather prediction models to produce forecasts and warnings that will help emergency responders anticipate, monitor and react to many types of natural disasters.

"The timing of the NPP launch could hardly be more appropriate," said Louis W. Uccellini, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, Md. "With the many billion dollar weather disasters in 2011, NPP data is critical for accurate weather forecasts into the future."

A Delta II rocket will carry NPP into an orbit 512 miles above Earth's surface. Roughly the size of a mini-van, the spacecraft will orbit Earth's poles about 14 times a day. It will transmit data once each orbit to a ground station in Svalbard, Norway, and to direct broadcast receivers around the world.

NPP is set to launch from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Oct. 27. The launch window extends from 5:48 a.m. to 5:57 a.m. EDT.

The launch recently was delayed two days due to the repair of the Delta II's hydraulic system. The NPP spacecraft is scheduled to be transported to the launch pad for attachment to the Delta II on Oct. 12.

NASA Launches GRAIL Moon probe

GRAIL Heads to the Moon

Fire and smoke light up a blue sky as a United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket propels NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission into space. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida was at 9:08:52 EDT Sept.10.

The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field.

The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth.

This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids.

The aim is to map the moon's gravity field so completely that future moon vehicles can safely navigate anywhere on the moon's surface.

Photo credit: NASA/Darrell McCall

Delta II rocket with it's Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft payload

The Delta II rocket with it's Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft payload is seen as the service structure is rolled back on Thursday, June 9, 2011, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The joint U.S./Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D mission, set to launch June 10, will map the salinity at the ocean surface, information critical to improving our understanding of two major components of Earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation.

Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Delta 4 Heavy Rocket Launch

A Boeing Delta 4 Heavy rocket, which may someday be used to send humans into space, rises from the launch pad during its first unmanned launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Picture: AP

United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy launcher carries NROL-32

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy launches with a National Reconnaissance Office payload NROL-32 from Space Launch Complex-37 at 5:58 p.m. EST (2258 GMT). Credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch Alliance

The launch came after the first attempt was scrubbed for 48 hours due to issues suffered during fuelling - relating to anomalous temperature data signatures detected on the port and starboard strap-on common core boosters during cryogenic fueling.

Delta IV-H Preview:
The Delta IV which will perform the launch is Delta 351, a Delta IV Heavy with three Common Booster Cores and an upper stage with a diameter of five metres.

The first stage of the Delta IV is a Common Booster Core or CBC, powered by a single RS-68 engine. This will be augmented early in the flight by two additional CBCs attached to it on either side.

The second stage is the five metre Delta Cryogenic Second Stage or DCSS, which is powered by one RL10-B-2 engine.

More about NRO at NASA Spaceflight

Southern Netherlands: Zeeland from space

The Netherlands: Along the southern coast of the Netherlands, sediment-laden rivers have created a massive delta of islands and waterways in the gaps between the coastal dunes.

In this false-colour composite, acquired on May 24, 2002, the darker the red shown, the more densely vegetated the terrain.

The light blue-green areas show bare land surface.

If you look closely you will see the series of dams and barriers erected to prevent catastrophic flooding in Zeeland.

This was started after 1953 when several thousand people were drowned when the sea surged to higher than normal levels. Because most of Netherlands lies 5 metres under sea level, a breach in the sea walls can have a devastating effect.