DENVER -- Ball Aerospace in Boulder will launch its $1.5 billion project on Friday from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. The next-generation weather satellite will then begin its five-year journey observing Earth from space.
The satellite has a lengthy name: National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project. NPP contains five on-board instruments that will collect information for more than 30 key long-term data sets. These records, which range from the ozone layer and land cover to atmospheric temperatures and ice cover, are critical for understanding the earth's climate and its changes over time.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the spacecraft bus, and since 2005 its team of scientists has run the on-board instruments through extensive testing to prepare them for the extreme elements in outer space. NPP will fly at an altitude of 512 miles and will circle the globe 14 times a day.
Scientists are enthusiastic about the new technology, which will be available following the significant weather events of 2011. according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States saw 10 billion-dollar disasters just this year.
"The timing of this NPP launch could hardly be more appropriate," said Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, NOAA director of the National Center for Environmental Prediction. “With NPP we expect to improve and extend our forecast skills out to five to seven days in advance for hurricanes and other extreme weather events. We expect the advanced instruments on NPP to become a foundation for the global observing system that will be absolutely essential."
NPP will be launched on a Delta II rocket built in Centennial.
For more information on the satellite mission, visit the official NPP website.
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