A Note from Greg Mandt, GOES-R System Program Director WearenowlessthanayearawayfromthelaunchofGOES-RandIamproudofthegreatworktheprogramhasachievedtodate.Spacecraftintegrationandtestingactivitiesareunderwayinprepara-tionforenvironmentaltesting,andthegroundsegmentcompletedinstallationandintegrationoftheGOES-RseriesITinfrastructure.SignificantprogresshasalsobeenmadeinthedevelopmentoftheGOES-S/T/Usatellites.Wealsocontinuetofocusonuserreadinessactivitiesandhavereceivedexcel-lentfeedbackfromourNationalWeatherServicepartnerswhoareexcitedaboutthecapabilitiestheGOES-Rseriessatelliteswillprovide.Ilookforwardtocontinuedsuccessinourrun-uptolaunch.

Page1April 24, 2015

In March 2016, the first satellite in the GOES-R series will be launched intospace,providingnewandimprovedobservationalcapabilities.OnMarch16,NOAAandNASAGoddardbeganhighlightingthecountdowntolaunch,andNESDISreleasedtheTop5ReasonsWhyNOAA’sGOES-RSatelliteMatterstobuildpublicexcitementaboutthenewsatellite.NOAA,NESDIS,NASAandtheGOES-RSeriesProgramparticipatedinafive-daysocialmediacampaignfocusedonnextyear’slaunch.

GOES-R spacecraft integration and testing activitiesareinfullswinginpreparationforthesatellite’spre-environmentalreview(PER)inApril.InJanuary,pre-environmentalcomprehensiveperformancetests(CPTs)werecompletedforthespacecraftbussubsystemsandtheAdvancedBaselineImager(ABI),GeostationaryLightningMapper(GLM)andSpaceEnvironmentIn-SituSuite(SEISS)instruments.InFebruary,thepre-environmentalCPTcoveringthespacecraftbussubsystemswascompleted,andtheon-boardcom-puterwasdeliveredforintegrationandtesting.InMarch,theSearchandRescueandGlobalPositioningSystemanten-naswereinstalled,thesun-pointingsubsystemwasmatedtothesolararraywingassembly,andthewingassemblywasintegratedwiththespacecraft.AlsoinMarch,thefirstflightbatterycompletedthermalvacuumtesting.

QuarterlyNewsletterJanuary–March2015

Issue9

…datafromtheGOES-Rseriessatellitescanaidfirefightingefforts?TheFire/HotSpotCharacterizationproductwillusethehigherspatialandtemporalresolutionavailablefromtheABItobettermonitorwildfiresand,moreimportantly,rapidchangesinindividualfires.

Highlights

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Harris Corporation has deliveredallhardwareandcom-pletedinstallationandintegrationoftheGOES-RgroundsegmentITinfrastructuresupportingoperationalsystemsatNOAASatelliteOperationsFacility(NSOF)inSuitland,Maryland,WallopsCommandandDataAcquisitionSta-tion(WCDAS)inWallops,Virginia,andtheConsolidatedBackup(CBU)inFairmont,WestVirginia.Thesystemincludes2,100serversandstorageservicestotalingthreepetabytes.HarrisissuedapressreleaseonFebruary25tomarkthisachievement.

The GOES-R ground system successfully completed site verification testing for Release Mission Manage-ment Flight Ready in February. Operationalizationandtransitionfromtheprecursorsoftwareisnowinprogress.InMarch,thesiteverificationtestingforanothergroundsystemsoftwarerelease,FinalProductSet(FPS),wascom-pleted,andintegrationofFPSwiththeProductDistribu-tionandAccesssystembegan.

In March, the ground segment project successfully completed integration of the ground system data simulator withtheintermediatefrequencydistributionswitchattheCBU.Thissignalrouterenablestheuplinkanddownlinkofrawdatathroughtheantennasystemstothegroundsystem.Thiswasakeyriskreductionactivityforupcomingdataoperationsexercisesandthegovern-ment-ledgroundsystemtesting.

On the GOES-R antenna system,partoneofthesiteacceptancetestoftheW-2antennaatWCDASwascompletedinJanuary.AlsoinJanuary,theN-4antennawasdeliveredtoNSOFandsiteintegrationconcludedinFebruary.

Considerable progress has been made in the develop-ment of the GOES-S/T/U instruments:

·AllenvironmentaltestingoftheGOES-SSEISSinstru-mentiscomplete.

·TheGOES-SExtremeUltravioletandX-rayIrradianceSensors(EXIS)andSolarUltravioletImager(SUVI)arecompleteandbeingpreparedfordeliverytoLockheedMartininDenver.

·TheABIthatwillflyonGOES-TsuccessfullycompleteditsPERinJanuaryandisundergoingthermalvacuumtesting.

·TheGOES-TSUVIinstrumentisbeingpreparedforpre-environmentaltesting.

·Post-environmentalcalibrationoftheGOES-TEXISisinprogress.

·FourofthefiveGOES-TSEISSflightunitsarecomplete.

·TheGOES-UEXISsuccessfullycompletedpre-environ-mentalcalibrationandmagneticstestinginMarch.

·TwooftheGOES-USEISSunitshavecompletedintegrationandtest,andtheotherthreeunitsareinsubassemblytest.

Integration of the GOES-S spacecraft propulsion core was completed in February,followedbythepropul-sionmoduleacceptancetest.GOES-Sspacecraftsystemmoduleintegrationisunderway.Thesystemmodulecompleteditsinitialpower-uptestinMarch.

GOES-Rspacecraftwithsolarwinginstalled.Credit:LockheedMartin

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The American Meteorological Society’s 95th Annual Meeting was held January 4–8 in Phoenix.TheAMSmeetingalsohostedthe11thSymposiumonNewGener-ationOperationalEnvironmentalSatelliteSystemswhichhighlightedmanyofthedevelopmentactivities,programscienceanduser-readinesspreparationsunderwayintheGOES-RSeriesProgram.GOES-RpresentationsandpostersfromtheconferenceareavailableontheGOES-Rwebsite.TheGOES-RSeriesProgramalsoparticipatedinWeatherFest,staffingtheNOAASciJinksboothandprovidinginformationaboutforecasting,satellitemeteorologyandEarthscience.WeatherFestisanannualweatherfairattendedbyweatherenthusiastsofallages.

GOES-R program systems engineering personnelpar-ticipatedwithAMSandtheSecureWorldFoundationtohostapaneldiscussion,“ChallengesinSharingWeatherSatelliteSpectrumwithTerrestrialNetworks”onMarch27inWashington,D.C.ThepurposewastoraiseawarenessofimpendingchangesinUnitedStatesdomesticspec-trumpolicy.RepresentativesfromNESDIS,theNationalWeatherService(NWS),UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey,

theNationalEmergencyManagementAssociation,andAccuWeatherparticipatedinthediscussion.

On January 13, GOES-R System Program Director Greg Mandt,presentedanoverviewoftheGOES-RSeriesProgramattheGlenGerbergWeatherandClimateSummitinBreckenridge,Colorado.Thesummitbroughttogetherleadingscientists,governmentofficialsandbroadcastmeteorologiststodiscussextremeweatherandclimatescienceandadvancecommunicationofthelatestresearchandoperationalmeteorology.VideoofMandt’spresentationisavailableonthesummit’swebsite.

NOAA Satellite Science Week was held February 23–27 in Boulder, Colorado,withfocusontheGOES-RandJPSSmissions.SciencethemesforthemeetingreflectednationalandNOAAprioritiesandincludedsessionson

cloudsandaerosols,spaceweather,highimpactandsevereweather,climate,thearc-tic,tropicalcy-clonesandnewfrontiers.GOES-RpresentationsandpostersfromScienceWeekareavailableontheGOES-Rwebsite.

Conferences and Events

TheNOAASciJinksboothatWeatherFest,whichtookplacepriortotheAMS95thAnnualMeeting.Credit:GOES-Rprogram

RichardKnabb,Ph.D.,DirectoroftheNationalHurricaneCenter(left),andGregMandt,GOES-RSystemProgramDirector(right),takequestionsattheGlenGerbergWeatherandClimateSummit.Credit:DaveJones

Page4April 24, 2015

MonicaTodiritaistheGOES-RSeriesDeputyInstrumentSystemsManager,alsoresponsiblefortheEXISandMag-netometerinstruments.AsInstrumentManager,Monicaisresponsibleforoverallleadership,alongwithtechnicalandprogrammaticdirectionandmanagementofflightinstrumentdevelopmentsthroughthemissionlifecycle.Thisincludesformulation,preliminaryandcriticaldesign,integrationandtest,andlaunchandmissionoperations.OnFebruary3,TodiritawashonoredwithaDepartmentofCommerce2015BronzeMedalforherexceptionalleadershipinmanagingthedevelopmentanddeliveryoftheGOES-REXISandMagnetometerinstruments.TheBronzeMedalrecognizessuperiorperformancebyfederalemployeesandisthehighesthonorawardgrantedbytheUnderSecretaryofCommerceforOceansandAt-mosphere.Regardingtheaward,Todiritasaid,“ThemostimportantachievementformeisbeingpartofanamazingteamofprofessionalsatGOES-Randhavingtheopportu-nitytomakeacontributiontoensurethatthenextgen-erationofweathersatellitesbecomeareality.”

Herfavoritepartofherjobisinteractingwithpeopleandgettingthingsmovingfromconcepttoreality.“Thereisnothinglikeseeingsomethingonpaperandthenwatch-ingitwork,passingrigoroustestinginallphases,andthencapturingdata,”Todiritastated.“Iamlookingfor-wardtotheGOES-Rlaunchandtheturn-onofallofourinstruments.Weallworkedhardtomakeithappenandasweapproachthelaunchandoperationsphase,weareconfidentthatwebuiltinstrumentsthatwilldelivercrisper

dataproductsandpotentiallyimproveandsavelives.”TodiritaandherhusbandtakeprideinsupportinganorphanageinRomania,wheretheyarefrom,byprovid-ingfinancialsupportandsendingusedcomputersandeducationalgamestoengagethe33boysofvariousageswhoareininstitutionalizedstatecare.

Employee Spotlight

Proving Ground and Program ScienceOnFebruary10,theNWSOperationsProvingGroundbeganasix-weekevaluationofone-minutegeostation-arysatelliteimagery,whichsimulatesthecapabilitiesoftheGOES-Rseriessatellites.Thegoaloftheevaluationistoprovidequantitativeandqualitativeguidanceto

NWSmanagementandtheGOES-RProgramOfficeonhowone-minutesatelliteimageryaffectsNWSforecasterdecision-makinginavarietyofweathersituations.FollowprogressoftheevaluationsviatheSatelliteLiaisonBlog.

Awards and AccoladesJunLi,Ph.D.,seniorscientistattheUniversityofWisconsin’sCoopera-tiveInstituteforMeteorologicalSatelliteStudies,receivedtheUni-versityofWisconsinChancellor’sAwardforExcellenceinResearch:IndependentInvestigator.LiistheprincipalinvestigatorforGOES-Rlegacyprofileproductdevelop-

ment,GOES-Rhighimpactweatherstudies,andGOES-Rinstrumentandrequirementstudies.HeiscurrentlyfundedundertheGOES-Rriskreductionscienceprogram,developingaproductthatusesthethreemoisturebandsontheABIforuseattheNationalCentersforEnvironmen-talPredictionandNWSWeatherForecastOffices.LiwashonoredatareceptiononApril7attheFlunoCenterinMadison,Wisconsin.

MonicaTodirita(center)acceptsherBronzeAwardfromNOAAAdministratorKathrynSullivan,Ph.D.(left).AlsopicturedisCherishJohnson,NOAASatelliteandInformationServiceChiefFinancialOfficer/ChiefAdministrativeOfficer.Credit:NOAA