Feb 22, 2010

Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen e cole@nasa gov

Cynthia O'Carroll Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md 301-286-4647 cynthia m ocarroll@nasa gov

George H Diller John Leslie Kennedy Space Center, Fla NOAA, Silver Spring, Md 321-867-2468 301-713-2087 george h diller@nasa gov john leslie@noaa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-032

NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR GOES-P WEATHER SATELLITE LAUNCH MARCH 2

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -- The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-P, or GOES-P, is scheduled for launch aboard a Delta IV rocket on Tuesday, March 2, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida The one-hour launch window extends from 6:19 to 7:19 p m EST

GOES-P will provide expanded capability for space and solar environment-monitoring instruments The satellite will enhance forecasts and warnings for solar disturbances GOES-P data will help protect billions of dollars in investments by the government and private sector for assets on the ground and in space

GOES-P will feature a highly stable pointing platform that will improve the performance of its Imager and Sounder, instruments used for creating daily weather-prediction models and hurricane forecasting Data from GOES-P will be valuable for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service, which provides oceanographic circulation models and forecasts for U S coastal communities

As with all of NOAA's geostationary and polar-orbiting weather satellites, GOES-P will be able to relay distress signals detected from emergency locator beacons on the ground and at sea in support of the international search and rescue system NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md , was responsible for designing and developing the spacecraft and its instruments for NOAA

GOES-P is the last of three in the series of geostationary weather and environmental satellites built for NASA by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems The spacecraft will be checked out by Goddard and Boeing before being turned over to NOAA for operational use

NASA will provide television, Internet and photo coverage of the launch starting with a prelaunch news conference at 4 p m on Monday, March 1, at NASA's Kennedy Space Centers Press Site

Participating in the March 1 prelaunch news conference will be: - Steve Kirkner, NOAA GOES Program manager, NOAA Satellite and Information Service - Kris Walsh, Commercial Programs manager, United Launch Alliance - Hieu Lam, Delta Commercial Program manager, Boeing Launch Services - Andre Dress, GOES Deputy Project manager, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center - Charlie Maloney, GOES N-P Program manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems - Bart Hagemeyer, meteorologist in charge, NOAA National Weather Service forecast office, Melbourne, Fla - Joel Tumbiolo, Delta IV launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

NASA Television will carry the prelaunch news conference and launch day coverage live On March 2 NASA TV countdown coverage will begin at 4 p m , and will conclude 30 minutes after liftoff For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

Audio only of the prelaunch news conference and the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, - 1240, -1260 and -7135 On launch day, "Mission Audio," the launch conductor's countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135 starting at noon Launch also will be available on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146 940 MHz heard within Brevard County

Live countdown coverage on NASA's launch blog begins at 4 p m on March 2 Coverage features real-time updates of countdown milestones, as well as streaming video and a podcast of launch To access these features, visit NASA's GOES-P mission Web site at:

http://www nasa gov/goes-p

Reporters attending the NASA prelaunch media briefing who also plan to cover launch may request accreditation by going to:

https://media ksc nasa gov

The Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on SR-405 is open Monday through Friday from 6 a m to 4 p m For those needing credentials, more information about accreditation is available by contacting Laurel Lichtenberger at 321-867-4036

For more information about the GOES-P launch, contact the NASA News Center at Kennedy at 321-867-2468 or visit:

http://www nasa gov/kennedy

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]