NASA/NOAA: GOES-15: First Image of Earth

[bystander]

NASA: GOES-15 Opens Its "Eyes" and Sees First Image of Earth
NOAA: GOES-15 Weather Satellite Captures Its First Image of Earth
CIMSS: GOES-15: first full disk visible image

From approximately 22,236 miles in space, NOAA's newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite -
GOES-15 - took its first full visible image of the Earth on April 6, 2010 at 1:33 p.m. EDT. (NOAA/NASA/SSEC)

[bystander]

GOES-15 Opens Its Infrared "Eyes" for First Image
NASA GFSC GOES-P Mission News - 27 April 2010

From approximately 22,236 miles in space, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – GOES-15 – took its first full-disk infrared image of the Earth on April 26, 2010.
...
"This (image) marks the final stage of the critical events for the spacecraft and indicates that the visible and infrared spacecraft imaging instruments are performing as expected," said Andre' Dress, the NASA GOES Deputy Project Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We're looking forward to more imagery as we finish up post-launch testing."

The first GOES-15 full-disk infrared image was from the Imager. The GOES Imager is a multi-channel instrument designed to sense radiant and solar-reflected energy from the Earth.The first full-disk infrared image of the Earth was taken on April 26 at 17:30 UTC (1:30 p.m. EDT). It showed clouds associated with low pressure areas over the Ohio Valley and southern Minnesota, and the cold front coming into the Pacific Northwest. The image also shows strong thunderstorms and associated clouds in South Florida, convection along the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone near the equator, the clouds associate with the sub-tropical jet stream from the Pacific Ocean through south Texas and snow on the ground in the Rocky Mountains.

The Sounder is another instrument on GOES-15 which also took Infrared images of the Earth. The Sounder is designed to provide data from which atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, surface and cloud-top temperatures, and ozone distribution can be deduced by mathematical analysis.

[Hofi]

Great image!

[neufer]

GOES-15 Opens Its Infrared "Eyes" for First Image
NASA GFSC GOES-P Mission News - 27 April 2010

The Sounder is another instrument on GOES-15 which also took Infrared images of the Earth. The Sounder is designed to provide data from which atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, surface and cloud-top temperatures, and ozone distribution can be deduced by mathematical analysis.

• That's my boy!

http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 95#p116595

[bystander]

GOES-15 Solar X-Ray Imager's Miraculous First Light
NASA GSFC (10-53) | 14 June 2010

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  Click to view full size image

  This first image of the sun from the GOES-15 SXI instrument from June 2,
  2010, was a cause for celebration. (NASA/NOAA/ Lockheed Martin)

The Solar X-Ray Imager instrument aboard the GOES-15 satellite has just provided its first light image of the sun, but it required a lot of experts to make it happen.

Scientists and engineers from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been working to bring the Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) instrument to full functionality since the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15, formerly known as the GOES-P satellite achieved orbit.

GOES-15 launched on March 4, 2010 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. On April 6, 2010, GOES-15 captured its first visible image of Earth and on April 26, GOES-15 took its first full-disk infrared image.

"Since the early checkout of GOES 15 (P) and the anomalous turn on of the Solar X-Ray Imager, the team has been aggressively pursuing all avenues to recover the instrument," said Andre' Dress, GOES N-P Deputy Project Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md." Frankly, we were down to our last straw when all the teams' hard work and efforts finally paid off. We now believe we have a full recovery of the instrument's functionality! It's an incredible story and a true testament of our NASA/contractor teams expertise, hard work and determination."

On June 3, the GOES 15 Solar X-Ray Imager finally came on-line. Scientists and engineers had subjected SXI to a series of long duration turn on tests in the hopes of clearing the short. About 16 hours into the testing, the instrument voltages returned to normal values and SXI now appears to be functioning properly.