With only two days remaining until the scheduled launch of NOAA’s GOES-S satellite, launch and mission managers are gathering at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to provide briefings on launch status and the science aspects of the GOES-R series of advanced weather satellites. A prelaunch status briefing will be held at 1 p.m., followed by a science briefing at 2:30 p.m. Both briefings will be held at Kennedy’s Press Site TV Auditorium and air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Prelaunch news conference participants are:
- Stephen Volz, director for satellite and information services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- Tim Walsh, GOES-R system program director (acting), NOAA
- Sandra Smalley, director, Joint Agency Satellite Division, NASA Headquarters
- Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA, Kennedy Space Center
- Scott Messer, program manager, NASA Programs, United Launch Alliance
- Kathy Winters, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Science briefing participants are:
- Dan Lindsey, GOES-R senior scientific advisor, NOAA
- Louis Uccellini, director, National Weather Service, NOAA
- George Morrow, deputy director, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Jim Roberts, scientist, Earth System Research Laboratory, Office of Atmospheric Research, NOAA
- Kristin Calhoun, research scientist, National Severe Storms Laboratory, NOAA
Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NOAA’s GOES-S satellite. Launch is scheduled for March 1 at 5:02 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. On launch day, the primary weather concern is cumulus clouds.