Suomi NPP

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Suomi NPP
Suomi NPP satellite.jpg
Suomi NPP
Operator NASA/NOAA/DoD
COSPAR ID 2011-061A
SATCAT № 37849
Mission duration 5 years
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Ball Aerospace
Dry mass 2200 kg[1]
Start of mission
Launch date 28 October 2011, 09:48:01.828 (2011-10-28UTC09:48:01Z) UTC[2]
Rocket Delta II 7920-10[3] D357
Launch site Vandenberg SLC-2W
Contractor United Launch Alliance
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Sun-synchronous
Perigee 832 kilometers (517 mi)[4]
Apogee 834 kilometers (518 mi)[4]
Inclination 98.69 degrees[4]
Period 101.44 minutes[4]
Epoch 25 January 2015, 00:35:06 UTC[4]

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership or Suomi NPP, previously known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) and NPP-Bridge, is a weather satellite operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Originally intended as a pathfinder for the NPOESS programme, which was to have replaced NOAA's Polar Operational Environmental Satellites and the US Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, Suomi was launched in 2011 after the cancellation of NPOESS to serve as a gapfiller between the POES satellites and the Joint Polar Satellite System which will replace them. Its instruments provide climate measurements that continue prior observations by NASA's Earth Observing System.

The satellite is named after Verner E. Suomi, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The name was announced on January 24, 2012, three months after the satellite's launch.[5][6]

The satellite was launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California by a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7920-10C on October 28, 2011. The satellite was placed into a sun-synchronous orbit 824 km (512 miles) above the Earth.[7]

History

NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) 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.[8] Originally planned for launch five 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 as a civilian weather forecasting replacement for the NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) series, and ensured continuity of climate measurements begun by NASA's Earth Observing System.[9]

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 fairing).[3][10][11] Additionally, the rocket deployed four CubeSats as a part of NASA ELaNa III manifest.

The VIIRS sensor on board the spacecraft acquired its first measurements of Earth on November 21, 2011.[12]

File:Earth western hemisphere from Suomi NPP.jpg
Blue Marble 2012, created from Suomi NPP composite imagery

NASA also released a high resolution blue marble[citation needed] image of the Earth showing most of North America, which was created by NASA oceanographer Norman Kuring using data obtained on January 4, 2012 by the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite, one of five imaging systems aboard the satellite. That date was chosen because it was a fairly sunny day in most of North America.[7]

Instrumentation and capabilities

Suomi NPP in the cleanroom before launch

The Suomi NPP is the first in a new generation of satellites intended to replace the Earth Observing System satellites, which were launched from 1997 to 2011. The satellite orbits the Earth about 14 times each day. Its five imaging systems include:

Gallery

  • Delta II rocket carrying NPP

  • NPP launch video

  • First image acquired by the VIIRS sensor.

  • This composite image of southern Africa and the surrounding oceans was captured by six orbits of the NASA/NOAA.

Earth, created from Suomi NPP composite imagery.
Earth at night, created from Suomi NPP composite imagery.

References

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External links

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 NPP Satellite Reaches Orbit | AVIATION WEEK
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_C10-058_JPSS-1_Spacecraft.txt
  10. ↑ History of the Delta Launch Vehicle: Description and Designations
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ VIIRS First Light
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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