Topic: Vandenberg Air Force Base CA

NASA reports Testing Complete on New Ocean Satellite

June 12, 2020 |

Pasadena, CA – NASA says that once the state-of-the-art Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite launches in November, it will collect the most accurate data yet on sea level – a key indicator of how Earth’s warming climate is affecting the oceans, weather and coastlines.

But first, engineers need to ensure that the spacecraft can survive the rigors of launch and of operating in the harsh environment of space. That’s where meticulous testing comes in.

At the end of May, engineers finished putting the spacecraft – which is being built in Germany – through a battery of tests that began in November 2019.

Mission team members perform acoustic tests of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite in a chamber outfitted with giant speakers that blast the spacecraft with sound. This is to ensure that the high decibels associated with liftoff won’t damage the spacecraft. (Airbus)

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NASA says Tracking Rising Oceans will be done by New Earth Mission

November 22, 2019 |

Pasadena, CA – NASA says the Earth’s climate is changing, and the study of oceans is vital to understanding the effects of those changes on our future. For the first time, U.S and European agencies are preparing to launch a 10-year satellite mission to continue to study the clearest sign of global warming – rising sea levels.

The Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission (short for Jason-Continuity of Service), will be the longest-running mission dedicated to answering the question: How much will Earth’s oceans rise by 2030?

The Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 mission that will track sea level rise, one of the clearest signs of global warming, for the next 10 years. Sentinel-6A, the first of the mission’s two satellites, is shown in its clean room in Germany and is scheduled to launch in November 2020. (IABG)

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Elias Lugo of Clarksville grand prize winner in Army & Air Force Exchange Service sweepstakes

February 5, 2019 |

Written by Alexandra Pirkle
Army & Air Force Exchange Service HQ

Dallas, TX – When Elias Lugo found out he was the grand-prize winner of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s worldwide You Made the Grade sweepstakes, he thought he was dreaming.

“I was shaking because I didn’t think I actually won,” he said.

Elias received his academic excellence prize, a $2,000 Exchange gift card, at a presentation February 1st, 2019 at the Fort Campbell Exchange.

Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Jason W. Osborne joins the Fort Campbell Exchange Store Manager Annette Montgomery and General Manager David Swenson in celebrating Elias Lugo, 14, of Clarksville, TN for his academic achievement. Elias was presented with a $2,000 Exchange gift card Feb. 1 as part of the You Made the Grade program. (Army & Air Force Exchange Service HQ)

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NASA Insight Lander sits on Sandy Spot on Mars

December 2, 2018 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – With InSight safely on the surface of Mars, the mission team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is busy learning more about the spacecraft’s landing site.

They knew when InSight landed on November 26th, 2018 that the spacecraft had touched down on target, a lava plain named Elysium Planitia. Now they’ve determined that the vehicle sits slightly tilted (about 4 degrees) in a shallow dust- and sand-filled impact crater known as a “hollow.” InSight has been engineered to operate on a surface with an inclination up to 15 degrees.

NASA’s InSight spacecraft flipped open the lens cover on its Instrument Context Camera (ICC) on Nov. 30, 2018, and captured this view of Mars. Located below the deck of the InSight lander, the ICC has a fisheye view, creating a curved horizon. Some clumps of dust are still visible on the camera’s lens. One of the spacecraft’s footpads can be seen in the lower right corner. The seismometer’s tether box is in the upper left corner. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA InSight Lander touches down on Mars

November 26, 2018 |

NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – Mars has just received its newest robotic resident. NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet after an almost seven-month, 300-million-mile (458-million-kilometer) journey from Earth.

InSight’s two-year mission will be to study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all celestial bodies with rocky surfaces, including Earth and the Moon, formed.

Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager, NASA JPL, left, and Sue Smrekar, InSight deputy principal investigator, NASA JPL, react after receiving confirmation that the Mars InSight lander successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 inside the Mission Support Area at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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NASA’s InSight Spacecraft set to launch May 5th for Mars

April 7, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – In the early morning hours of May 5th, millions of Californians will have an opportunity to witness a sight they have never seen before – the historic first interplanetary launch from America’s West Coast.

On board the 189-foot-tall (57.3-meter) United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will be NASA’s InSight spacecraft, destined for the Elysium Planitia region located in Mars’ northern hemisphere. The May 5th launch window for the InSight mission opens at 4:05am PDT (6:05 CDT, 11:05 UTC) and remains open for two hours.

NASA’s InSight to Mars undergoes final preparations at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, ahead of its May 5th launch date. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Mars InSight Lander undergoes Solar Array Deployment Test

January 26, 2018 |

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA –  NASA’s next mission to Mars passed a key test Tuesday, extending the solar arrays that will power the InSight spacecraft once it lands on the Red Planet this November.

The test took place at Lockheed Martin Space just outside of Denver, where InSight was built and has been undergoing testing ahead of its launch. The mission is led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

“This is the last time we will see the spacecraft in landed configuration before it arrives at the Red Planet,” said Scott Daniels, Lockheed Martin InSight Assembly, Test and Launch Operations (ATLO) Manager.

The solar arrays on NASA’s InSight Mars lander were deployed as part of testing conducted Jan. 23, 2018, at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. Engineers and technicians evaluated the solar arrays and performed an illumination test to confirm that the solar cells were collecting power. The launch window for InSight opens May 5, 2018. (Lockheed Martin Space)

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NASA launched NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-1 into orbit Saturday

November 19, 2017 |

Written by Steve Cole
NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – NASA has successfully launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the first in a series of four highly advanced polar-orbiting satellites, equipped with next-generation technology and designed to improve the accuracy of U.S. weather forecasts out to seven days.

The Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) lifted off on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 1:47am PST Saturday.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta II rocket engines roar to life. The 1:47am PST (4:47am EST), liftoff begins the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, mission. JPSS is the first in a series four next-generation environmental satellites in a collaborative program between NOAA and NASA. (NASA)

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NASA’s CERES Flight Model 6 instrument to help study Earth’s Energy Budget

October 26, 2017 |

Written by Eric Gillard
NASA Langley Research Center

Hampton, VA – The Earth and its interconnected systems have always been a fascination for Norman Loeb.

“It’s quite an interesting thing when you think about how energy is distributed and exchanged in various forms amongst Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land and snow surfaces,” he said.

As the principal investigator of NASA’s Radiaton Budget Science Project, Loeb oversees a series of space-borne instruments that measure reflected sunlight and thermal radiation emitted by the Earth. It gives him a chance to satisfy his curiosity about our home planet from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Earth’s energy budget describes the balance between the radiant energy that reaches Earth from the sun and the energy that flows from Earth back out to space.
(NASA)

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NASA’s InSight Spacecraft set to launch in May 2018 for Mars

March 10, 2016 |

Written by Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission to study the deep interior of Mars is targeting a new launch window that begins May 5th, 2018, with a Mars landing scheduled for November 26th, 2018.

InSight’s primary goal is to help us understand how rocky planets — including Earth — formed and evolved. The spacecraft had been on track to launch this month until a vacuum leak in its prime science instrument prompted NASA in December to suspend preparations for launch.

This artist’s concept from August 2015 depicts NASA’s InSight Mars lander fully deployed for studying the deep interior of Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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