- NPOESS Preparatory Project
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NPOESS Preparatory Project 
NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP)Operator NASA/NOAA/DOD Major contractors Ball Aerospace, United Launch Alliance Current destination Earth Observing Satellite of Earth Orbital insertion date 2011-10-28 Launch date 2011-10-28, 09:48:01.828 UTC[1] Launch vehicle Delta II 7920-10[2] Carrier rocket 357 Launch site Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-2 Mission duration 5 years COSPAR ID 2011-061A The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) mission[3] is intended to bridge the gap between old and new systems by flying new instruments, on a new satellite bus, using a new ground data network. Originally planned for launch 5 years earlier as a joint NASA/NOAA/DOD project, NPP was to be a pathfinder mission for the larger National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System until DOD participation in the larger project was dissolved. The project continued forward in its civilian weather forecasting replacing the NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) series and ensuring the continuty of climate measurements begun by NASA's Earth Observing System.[4]
The five instruments include the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS),[5] the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS),[6] the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)[7] and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS).[8] The NPP project encountered various troubles and was reviewed.
The spacecraft was launched 28 October 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base via a Delta II in the 7920-10 configuration ( Extra Extended Long Tank with RS-27A engine first stage, 9 GEM-40 solid rocket motors, type 2 second stage with Aerojet AJ10 engine, no 3rd stage and a 10 meter faring).[2][9][10]
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NPP satellite in clean room, January 2011.
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The Delta II rocket with it's NPP spacecraft payload is seen as the service structure is rolled back on at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
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An arc of light illuminates the pre-dawn sky at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., as a Delta II rocket launches with the NPP spacecraft payload.
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NPP launch video
References
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/NASAKennedy/status/129876532922548224
- ^ a b NPP Satellite Reaches Orbit | AVIATION WEEK
- ^ "NPP Mission". NASA. http://jointmission.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ^ http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_C10-058_JPSS-1_Spacecraft.txt
- ^ Muth, C.; P.S. Lee; J. C. Shiue, W. Allan Webb (27 December 2004). "Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder on NPOESS and NPP". Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2004. IGARSS '04. Proceedings. 2004 IEEE International 4: 2454–2458. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2004.1369789.
- ^ "Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS)". NASA. http://jointmission.gsfc.nasa.gov/cris.html. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ^ "Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)". Raytheon. http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/viirs/. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ^ "POLAR-ORBITING ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITES: Information on Program Cost and Schedule Changes: GAO-04-1054". GAO. 2004. http://www.gao.gov/htext/d041054.html.
- ^ History of the Delta Launch Vehicle: Description and Designations
- ^ BBC News - NPP weather and climate satellite launches
External links
- Official website
- mission page (NASA)
- press kit (NASA)
- press kit (Ball Aerospace)
- Brochure (NASA)
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