By popular request, Here’s one of my special , close up, ground camera locations from #JPSS2 #LOFTID . (You probably would not want to stand there during liftoff…) #Atlas
NASA’s Trudy Kortes, on a telecon about the recent LOFTID flight demonstration: the basic question of such tests is, “Does it work?” The answer we got was a resounding yes.
General theme of the briefing: just starting data analysis from the LOFTID flight, but everything so far shows it performed very well; “proved a lot of people right,” says LOFTID chief engineer John DiNonno.
Nov 17, 2022LOFTID Inflatable Heat Shield Test A Success, Early Results ShowNASA's Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, launched on Nov. 10, 2022, to demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could be key to landing humans on Mars.About an hour after launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, LOFTD inflated and deployed in space. After being released by the Centaur upper stage, the heat shield, or aeroshell, began its perilous re-entry journey through Earth's atmosphere, entering the atmosphere at more than 18,000 miles per hour. LOFTID created enough drag to slow to less than 80 miles per hour by the end of its demonstration. At this point, LOFTID's onboard parachutes deployed, carrying the heat shield to a gentle splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.The team recovered the LOFTID aeroshell within a few hours, and early indications show that the demonstration was successful. In addition to achieving its primary objective of surviving the intense dynamic pressure and heating of re-entry, it appears that the aft side of the heat shield – opposite LOFTID's nose – was well protected from the re-entry environment. This suggests that inflatable aeroshells can keep payloads safe during atmospheric entry.Full study of LOFTID's performance is expected to take about a year. The results of the LOFTID demonstration will inform future designs for inflatable heat shields that could be used to land heavier payloads on worlds with atmospheres, including Mars, Venus, Saturn's moon Titan, and Earth.Learn more about LOFTID at: https://nasa.gov/loftidLast Updated: Nov 17, 2022Editor: Kristyn Damadeo
And a double 🎯🎯: weather and climate monitoring #JPSS2 and the revolutionary #LOFTID reentry technology demo, for a dead on splashdown and easy recovery.
Liftoff 1 // Farewell 4-Meter Fairing
Liftoff 2 // Tank Farm
Liftoff 3 // Cloud Ring
About to start:https://twitter.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1594419382968516608QuoteToday's NSF Live features chat and Q&A with members of the NASA Technology Demonstration Mission Team, who worked on the LOFTID inflatable heat shield test and are working on the future launch of the Psyche spacecraft. ➡️
Today's NSF Live features chat and Q&A with members of the NASA Technology Demonstration Mission Team, who worked on the LOFTID inflatable heat shield test and are working on the future launch of the Psyche spacecraft. ➡️
NOAA-21 is OperationalNovember 8, 2023NOAA-21 is now fully operational in NOAA’s fleet of polar-orbiting satellites that provide critical data to improve the accuracy of 3-to-7 day weather forecasts – including extreme weather events – and monitor climate change.The newest satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) constellation, NOAA-21 launched on November 10, 2022, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, joining NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP in orbit. NOAA-21 is flying half an orbit, or 50 minutes, ahead of NOAA-20, with Suomi NPP between them. Each orbit the Earth from the North to the South Pole 14 times a day, providing complete global data coverage twice daily. These satellites take measurements and images that help monitor hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, wildfires, and also the ozone layer.After ten months, NOAA-21 has now completed its post-launch testing period. During this time, all the spacecraft’s primary systems were checked, including the power system, communications system, computer and data system, and the propulsion system. The instruments were activated and outgassed to protect their sensors, then calibrated and checked through a series of satellite maneuvers to ensure they were performing as expected. Operational science testing was completed to inspect the quality of the instrument data sent back via the ground system. Once this phase was completed, NOAA validated all the satellite products before deeming them ready to use by the National Weather Service.There are four instruments on board NOAA-21: the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), the Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). These instruments gather vital measurements and data for daily and extreme weather forecasts as well as land and sea surface temperatures, rainfall rates, snow and ice cover, fire locations, smoke plumes, temperatures in the atmosphere, water vapor, and pollutants.“NOAA-21 complements the operational on-orbit satellites in the JPSS constellation and will further the outstanding science that JPSS has provided since 2011. The series provides crucial weather and climate data to the world and the addition of NOAA-21 will further our mission to help protect lives and property around the globe,” says Tim Walsh, Director of the Office of Low Earth Orbit Observations. NOAA-21 continues the JPSS Program’s tradition of providing excellent and critical data to users around the globe. The JPSS system of satellites will ensure data continuity for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and much more, well into the 2030s. The next JPSS satellite will launch in 2027, with the final satellite in the series having a targeted launch date of 2032. Satellites from the JPSS series are designed to operate for seven years, with the potential for several more years following.
Nov 8, 2023NOAA-21 is now fully operational in NOAA’s fleet of polar-orbiting satellites that provide critical data to improve the accuracy of 3-to-7 day weather forecasts – including extreme weather events – and monitor climate change.The newest satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) constellation, NOAA-21 launched on November 10, 2022, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, joining NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP in orbit. NOAA-21 is flying half an orbit, or 50 minutes, ahead of NOAA-20, with Suomi NPP between them. Each orbit the Earth from the North to the South Pole 14 times a day, providing complete global data coverage twice daily. These satellites take measurements and images that help monitor hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, wildfires, and also the ozone layer.
On November 10, 2022 NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, successfully demonstrated a cross-cutting aeroshell -- a type of heat shield -- for atmospheric re-entry. Video of the mission along with highlights and analysis of LOFTID’s cutting-edge performance, descent and landing technology can be seen here. Learn more at https://www.nasa.gov/mission/low-earth-orbit-flight-test-of-an-inflatable-decelerator-loftid/
