NASA & NOAA Celebrate Five-Year Anniversary of Suomi NPP Launch
After five years in space, the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) mission continues to contribute significant advances in severe weather prediction and environmental monitoring leading to better forecasts and situational awareness for the nation and users worldwide. Launched on Oct. 28, 2011, Suomi NPP is a bridge to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) next generation Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) weather satellites. The JPSS-1 satellite is scheduled to launch in 2017 to complement the data from Suomi NPP. Read more
A remarkable new view of the dark side of our planet from space released today by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is just a peek at the nighttime capabilities of the agencies' newest weather satellite, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Named for the father of satellite meteorology, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Verner Suomi, the Suomi NPP satellite is taking images of unprecedented quality from orbit 500 miles above Earth - especially at night. Read more
Storms, Ozone, Vegetation and More: NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP Satellite Returns First Year of Data
On Oct. 28, 2011, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite successfully blasted into orbit in a spectacular night launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Now, Suomi NPP has orbited the Earth more than 5,000 times and begun returning images and data that provide critical weather and climate measurements of the complex Earth system. Read more
NASA Renames Earth-Observing Mission in Honour of Satellite Pioneer
NASA has renamed its newest Earth-observing satellite in honour of the late Verner E. Suomi, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin who is recognised widely as "the father of satellite meteorology." The announcement was made Jan. 24 at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in New Orleans. NASA launched the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, on Oct. 28, 2011, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NPP was renamed Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, or Suomi NPP. The satellite is the first designed to collect critical data to improve short-term weather forecasts and increase understanding of long-term climate change. Read more
Contamination on a key sensor aboard the newest U.S. polar-orbiting weather satellite will degrade its performance and delay the spacecrafts start of operations until early March, NASA said Jan. 19. The NPP satellite, launched in late October, was supposed to begin its weather monitoring mission in mid-December but has been held up by contamination on the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). NASA said a mirror on the sensor had traces of tungsten oxide on it. Read more
Team Vandenberg launched a Delta II rocket carrying NASA's NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite from Space Launch Complex-2W here at 2:48 a.m. PDT Oct. 28. Col. Richard Boltz, 30th Space Wing commander, was the launch decision authority. Read more
George Diller/NASA Launch Commentator: T-minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, main engines start, one, zero and liftoff of the Delta II with the NPP satellite. Blazing the way of new technology for climate research and weather forecast. Read more
Launch of new Satellite to sharpen weather observation
From a launching pad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base our newest weather satellite rose into orbit this morning, buoyed by know-how from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's atmospheric and space science community. Called NPP, for NPOESS Preparatory Program, the polar-orbiting satellite is a test bed for equipment intended for a generation of planned weather and climate satellites to be jointly operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A polar-orbiting satellite follows a north-to-south, south-to-north path from pole to pole, making the trip in about 100 minutes. The satellite's path means the local time beneath it is always the same - about 1:30 p.m. in NPP's case. Read more