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Date: Mon, 13 May 91 02:10:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #538

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 538

Today's Topics:
	  NOAA-D Press Kit [Press Release 91-72] (Forwarded)

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Date: 10 May 91 21:56:36 GMT
From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NOAA-D Press Kit [Press Release 91-72] (Forwarded)

NOAA-D PRESS KIT

MAY 9, 1991


PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS:


Paula Cleggett-Haleim/Brian Dunbar
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  202/453-1547)

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

Frank Lepore
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  301/763-4690)

Bud Littin
National Weather Service, Silver Spring, Md.
(Phone:  301/427-2662)

Lt. Col. Tom Warsdale
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
(Phone:  805/986-3595)

NOAA-D News Center
(Phone:  805/865-3841;  Updated recorded message:  805/865-3456;
Both numbers activated May 13.)


RELEASE:  91-72

NASA TO LAUNCH NOAA-D METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE


	The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-D 
meteorological satellite is scheduled for launch no earlier than 
May 14, officials from NOAA and NASA announced.

	Like other NOAA satellites, NOAA-D will collect meteorological 
data and transmit the information free of charge directly to users 
around the world to enhance local weather analysis and 
forecasting.  The users include more than 100 national 
governments.

	In addition to assisting local weather forecasting, the 
satellite data are used for agriculture, fishing, forest 
management, flood control, fire detection, volcano emission 
detection, vegetation mapping, oceanography and global climate 
change research.

	Launch of the 3,127-pound spacecraft is planned for 11:52 a.m. 
EDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.  To be known as NOAA-12 
once it is in orbit, the satellite will be boosted on a U.S. Air 
Force Atlas-E launch vehicle into a 450-nautical-mile circular, 
near polar, sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination angle of 
98.70 degrees to the Equator.  Orbital period will be 101 minutes, 
with the spacecraft crossing the Equator at 7:30 p.m. northbound 
and 7:30 a.m. southbound, local solar time.

	NOAA-D will carry five primary instruments:  the Advanced Very 
High Resolution Radiometer, a radiation detection instrument to 
determine cloud cover and surface temperature; the High Resolution 
Infrared Radiation Sounder and the Microwave Sounding Unit, which 
combine to detect and measure energy from the troposphere to 
construct a temperature profile from the surface to an altitude of 
about 6 miles. 

	Also onboard the spacecraft is the Space Environment Monitor to 
measure the population of the Earth's radiation belts and the 
particle precipitation phenomena resulting from solar activity, 
and the ARGOS/Data Collection System which receives signals from 
approximately 2,000 platforms (buoys, balloons and remote weather 
stations) and transmits the data to a central processing facility 
on the ground.

	Operational ground facilities include Command and Data 
Acquisition stations in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Wallops Island, 
Va.; the Satellite Operations Control Center and Data Processing 
Services Subsystem facilities in Suitland, Md.; and a data 
receiving station in Lannion, France. 

	The NOAA-D is a TIROS-N (Television Infrared Observation 
Satellite) class spacecraft, built by the General Electric Astro 
Space Division.  The world's first weather satellite was a TIROS, 
launched April 1, 1960.

	The TIROS program is a cooperative effort of NOAA, NASA, the 
United Kingdom, Canada and France for providing day and night 
environmental and associated data on a daily basis.  NOAA is 
responsible for establishing the observational requirements and 
for operating the system, and NASA, through its Goddard Space 
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for procuring and 
developing the spacecraft and for conducting on-orbit checkout of 
the satellite before transferring the system to NOAA for 
operational control.  The U.S. Air Force provides launch support 
with its Atlas-E launch vehicle, built by General Dynamics Space 
Systems Division.

NOAA-D Physical Characteristics

Main body:   12.2 feet (3.71 meters) long; 6.2 feet (1.88 meters) 
in diameter.

Solar array:   7.8 by 16.1 feet (2.37 by 4.91 meters)

Weight:   At liftoff 3,127 pounds (1,418 kg); on orbit, 1,620 
pounds (735 kg).

Lifetime:   Greater than 2 years.

Orbit:   Circular, altitude 450 nautical miles; inclination, 98.7 
degrees; period 101.35 minutes; sun synchronous, crossing the 
equator going south at 7:30 a.m. local time and north at 7:30 p.m.

NOAA-D Mission Timeline

Launch Sequence				Mission Time (min: sec.)
Launch	 				11:52 a.m. EDT
Booster Engine Cutoff (BECO)				 2:01.3
Booster Package Jettison				 2:04.1
Nose Fairing Jettison					 2:23.0
Sustainer Engine Cutoff (SECO)				 5:21.3
Vernier Engine Cutoff (VECO)				 5:40.4
Spacecraft Separation					 5:46.4
Solid Motor Ignition					10:23.5
Solid Motor Burnout					11:06.5
Array Deployment					17:35.0
Boom Deployment						21:00.0
Array Cant						23:40.0
Very High Frequency Antenna Deployment			28:10.0
Ultra High Frequency Antenna Deployment			28:30.0
Handover						34:00.0

The ATLAS-E Booster
 
	 Atlas, built by General Dynamics Space Division, San Diego, 
Calif., was originally designed as an intercontinental ballistic 
missile in the mid 1950s.  The first flight of an Atlas took place 
on Dec. 18, 1958.

	The Atlas family of launch vehicles (Atlas E, H, and SLV-3D) are 
considered intermediate boosters.  The boosters, stored at Norton 
Air Force Base, Calif., are modified for use in the space program.  
The modifications include the updating of guidance systems and 
improved safety controls.

	The list of payloads boosted by Atlas include Mercury (manned 
orbital flights), Ranger, Mariner, Pioneer, INTELSAT, NAVSTAR and 
most recently the Combined Release and Radiation Effects 
Satellite.

	The Atlas E launch vehicle is 92 feet (27.9 meters) in length 
and 10 feet (3.1 meters) in diameter.  It has a gross liftoff 
weight of 412,900 pounds (187,310 kilograms).  Burning LO 2 and 
RP-1 (liquid oxygen and kerosene-type fuel), the rocket's three 
main engines will produce 389,000 to 392,000 pounds (176,450 to 
177,811  kilograms) of thrust at liftoff. 

Apogee Kick Motor

	The spacecraft will reach its nominal orbit by use of a Morton 
Thiokol, Elkton Division, STAR 37S solid propellant motor.  This 
37-inch (94-cm) spherical rocket motor, which has flown on all 
previous TIROS-N missions to date, provides an average of 9,542 
pound-feet of thrust during a 43.5 second burn.  The motor remains 
with the spacecraft after the burn.

NOAA-D Instrumentation

	The instrument systems provide both direct readout and onboard 
recording and playback of environmental data during day and night 
operations.  The primary instruments carried by the NOAA-D 
spacecraft are:

	% Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/2 (AVHRR/2).
	% High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder/2 (HIRS/2).
	% Space Environment Monitor (SEM).
	% Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU).
	% ARGOS Data Collection System (ARGOS/DCS).

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/2

	The AVHRR/2 is a radiation-detection instrument used to remotely 
determine cloud cover and the Earth's surface temperature.  The 
scanning radiometer uses five detectors that collect different 
bands of radiation wavelengths.  Measuring the same view, this 
array of diverse wavelengths, after processing, will permit 
multispectral analysis for more precisely defining hydrologic, 
oceanographic and meteorological parameters.  One channel will 
monitor energy in the visible band and another in the near-
infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to observe 
vegetation, clouds, lakes, shorelines, snow and ice.  

	Comparison of data from these two channels can indicate the 
onset of ice and snow melting.  Depending on which instrument is 
used, the other two or three channels operate entirely within the 
infrared band to detect the heat radiation and temperature of 
land, water, sea surfaces and clouds.  Use of two adjacent 
frequency bands eliminates the hindrance to determining surface 
temperature caused by clouds.

High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder/2

	The HIRS/2 detects and measures energy emitted by the atmosphere 
to construct a vertical temperature profile from the Earth's 
surface to an altitude of about 24 miles (40 km).  Measurements 
are made in 20 spectral regions in the infrared band.  One 
frequency lies at the high end of the visible range.

Microwave Sounding Unit

	The MSU detects and measures the energy from the troposphere 
(the lowest layer of the atmosphere) to construct a vertical 
temperature profile to an altitude of about 6 miles (10 km).  
Measurements are made by radiometric detection of microwave energy 
divided into four frequency channels.  Since its data are not 
seriously affected by clouds, the MSU is used in conjunction with 
the HIRS/2 to remove measurement ambiguity when clouds are 
present.

Space Environment Monitor

	The SEM is a multichannel, charged-particle spectrometer.  It 
measures the population of the Earth's radiation belts and the 
particle precipitation resulting from solar activity (both of 
which contribute to the solar/terrestrial energy interchange).  
The SEM consists of two sensors, the total-energy detector and the 
medium-energy detector, and a common data processor.  The SEM's 
objectives are to determine the energy deposited by solar 
particles in the upper atmosphere and provide a solar warning 
system.

The ARGOS Data Collection System

	The ARGOS/DCS, provided by France, assists NOAA in its overall 
environmental mission and in the support of the Global Atmospheric 
Research Program.  Approximately 2,000 platforms (buoys, free-
floating balloons and remote weather stations) measure 
temperatures, pressure and altitude, and they transmit these data 
to the satellite.  The onboard DCS receives the incoming signal, 
measures both the frequency and the relative time of occurrence of 
each transmission, and retransmits these data to the central 
processing facility.  The DCS information is then sent to the 
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales ARGOS processing center, where 
it is processed, distributed and stored on magnetic tape for 
archival purposes.  The NOAA-D DCS data rate is 720 bits per 
second.

Communications and Data Handling

	The communications subsystem uses eight transmission links to 
handle communications between the satellite and ground stations.  
The satellite is controlled from NOAA's Satellite Operations 
Control Center (SOCC), Suitland, Md.  The ground system is made up 
of Data Acquisition and Control Subsystem (DACS) and the central 
processing system designated the Data Processing Services 
Subsystem (DPSS).

	The primary command and data acquisition (CDA) stations are 
located in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Wallops Island, Va.  The CDA 
stations transmit command programs to the satellite, acquire and 
record meteorological and engineering data from the spacecraft.  
Through a cooperative arrangement between NOAA and the 
Establissement d'Etudes et de Recherches Meteorologicques in 
France, stored and real-time data can be relayed from the Lannion 
Centre de Meteorologie Spatiale through NOAA geostationary 
satellites.  All data are transmitted between CDA stations and 
Suitland through commercial communications links.

	The ground communications links for satellite operations are 
provided by SATCOM and NASCOM.  NASCOM provides any launch-unique 
communications links for satellite launch.  SATCOM provides all 
voice and data links between the SOCC and the CDA stations after 
launch.  SATCOM is provided and operated by NOAA's National 
Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS).

	DPSS acquires data from the CDA stations through SOCC and is 
responsible for the data processing and generation of 
meteorological produces on a timely basis to meet program 
requirements.  NOAA provides all hardware and software for DPSS.

Summary of Previous NOAA Satellite Missions

	The NOAA satellites are TIROS spacecraft.  The TIROS program is 
a cooperative effort of NASA, NOAA, the United Kingdom and France 
to provide day and night global environmental and associated data 
for operational purposes on a daily basis.  TIROS-N, a research 
and development spacecraft serving as a protoflight for the 
operational follow-on series, NOAA-A through NOAA-H, was launched 
October 13, 1978.  NOAA-A and -C through -H have been designated 
NOAA-6 through NOAA-11 after launch.

	% NOAA-A (6) was launched June 27, 1979 and was deactivated on 
March 31, 1987.
	% NOAA-B was launched May 29, 1980 but failed to reach a usable 
orbit.  Because it failed, it has no number.
	% NOAA-C (7) was launched June 23, 1981 and was deactivated in 
June 1986 following a power system failure.
	% NOAA-D was dropped out of sequence in favor of NOAA-E, a 
longer spacecraft that could accommodate more instruments, 
including search and rescue equipment.  NOAA-D will be designated 
NOAA-12 upon successfully reaching orbit.
	% NOAA-E (8) was launched March 28, 1983.  The spacecraft became 
non-operational on December 29, 1985 following clock and power 
system failures.
	% NOAA-F (9) was launched December 12, 1984.  It currently is on 
standby status with some data still being processed.
	% NOAA-G (10) was launched September 17, 1986.  All instruments 
and subsystems are performing well except the Earth Radiation 
Budget Experiment (ERBE) scanner which has exhibited a scan 
sticking anomaly.
	% NOAA-H (11) was launched September 24, 1988.  All instruments 
are performing well.  The attitude control subsystem has lost two 
of its four gyros and is being operated successfully with 
specialized onboard software.

NOAA-D Mission Management
NOAA

Jennifer Joy Wilson	Assistant Sectretary of Commerce, Oceans and 
				Atmosphere; Deputy Administrator, NOAA.

Gray Castle		Deputy Undersecretray of Commerce,
				Oceans and Atmosphere

Thomas N. Pyke Jr.	Assistant Administrator,
				Satellite and Information Services.

NASA

Headquarters

Dr. L.A. Fisk		Associate Administrator,
				Space Science and Applications

Alphonso V. Diaz	Deputy Associate Administrator,
				Space Science and Applications

Dr. Shelby G. Tilford	Director, Earth Science and Applications Division

James Greaves		Program Manager, NOAA-D

Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. John M. Klineberg	Director

Dr. Dale W. Harris	Acting Director, Flight Projects

Charles E. Thienel	Project Director, Meteorological Satellites

Dr. Joel Susskind	Project Scientist, Meteorological Satellites

William Peacock		Manager, TIROS Spacecraft

International Partners

Daniel Hernandez	Director, ARGOS and SARSAT programs, CNES

John Morgan		Director, EUMETSAT.

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V13 #538
*******************