NASA is about to launch the GOES-U satellite, the latest addition to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series, which will improve weather monitoring for Earth and space.
This mission, scheduled for June 25, 2024, aims to provide crucial data for weather forecasting and monitoring of solar activity.
The significance of NASA’s GOES-U launch
The GOES-U satellite will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This satellite is the latest addition to the GOES-R series and will play a crucial role in providing continuous weather coverage for the western hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The GOES satellites are critical to providing timely warnings and forecasts to protect the one billion people who live and work in America.
Improved solar monitoring with Compact Coronagraph-1
One of the most important features of the GOES-U satellite is the recording of the Naval Research Laboratory Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1). This advanced instrument will image the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona, to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These solar events can have significant impacts on space weather, impacting satellites, power grids and communications systems on Earth.
Bill Murtagh, program coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center emphasized the importance of the coronagraph: “Coronagraph images are critical for us to detect the CME, measure it, put the information into a model and, based on the model, predict its arrival as it passes Earth to influence.” He added: “The coronagraph we have relied on (LASCO) is often not available because it is a research tool. It’s a single point of failure, so if he’s gone tomorrow we’d be in a bad situation.”
Elsayed Talaat, NOAA Director from the Office of Space Weather Observationsfurther explained the instrument’s capabilities: “When we see these storms coming from the sun, [coronagraphs] tell us something big is coming our way and we’ll input the characteristics of that coronal mass ejection into our models and project them to see if there will be an impact here.
Improved data transfer and reliability
The new coronagraph on GOES-U will provide faster and more detailed solar activity data. Unlike the aging LASCO instrument on the SOHO spacecraft, which can experience significant data transmission delays, CCOR-1 is designed to deliver images within 30 minutes of acquisition. This rapid data delivery is crucial for timely space weather forecasts.
“For the first time, we will have the possibility of having an artificial solar eclipse, a total solar eclipse, every 30 minutes. That will give us a very good power at the moment,” Talaat emphasizes. He added that the new instrument was built to reduce the impacts that can come with larger solar storms, ensuring cleaner and more reliable data.
Preparations for the launch
NASA will provide live coverage of the GOES-U launch and prelaunch activities. Key events include a science briefing, a NASA Social panel and a pre-launch press conference. The launch itself is scheduled within a two-hour window from 5:16 PM EDT on June 25.
The GOES-U mission underlines the importance of continued progress in weather and space weather monitoring technologies. By increasing our ability to observe and predict solar and atmospheric conditions, this satellite will play a critical role in protecting both terrestrial and space-based infrastructure.
Talaat commented on the critical nature of these observations: “These observations are critical to the Space Weather Prediction Center’s (SWPC) ability to warn and forecast. Without these observations from space, we would be blind to where the activity takes place at the sunspots… we have to make those measurements in space.”
These efforts reflect a broader commitment to using advanced technology to improve our understanding of environmental and space weather phenomena, ultimately contributing to more resilient and better informed communities.
