[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule

[Launch Alert]

                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                        www.spacearchive.info
		       
                              2012 February 14 (Tuesday) 17:20 PST
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                   VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
                        As of 2012 February 14

                     Launch
                   Time/Window
  Date              (PST/PDT)                Vehicle         Pad/Silo
--------        -----------------         -------------      --------

FEB 25          To be announced           Minuteman III      ---
The vehicle will probably send an unarmed warhead on a ballistic
trajectory to the central Pacific. The Defense Department will release
the launch window and other details a few days in advance  

MAR 29          To be announced           Delta IV           SLC-6
Vehicle will launch the classified NROL-25 payload for the U.S.
National Reconnaissance Office  

AUG             To be announced           Atlas V            SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the classified NROL-36 payload for the U.S.
National Reconnaissance Office  

DEC 1           To be announced           Pegasus XL         N/A
Vehicle will be air-dropped from an L-1011 jumbo jet flying offshore.
The aircraft will be staged from Vandenberg AFB.  

2012            To be announced           Falcon 9           SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch a payload for MDA Corp. (Canada)  

2012            To be announced           Falcon Heavy       SLC-4E
Falcon Heavy demonstration flight  

The above schedule is a composite of unclassified information
approved for public release from government, industry, and other
sources. It represents the Editor's best effort to produce a schedule,
but may disagree with other sources. Details on military launches are
withheld until they are approved for public release. For official
information regarding Vandenberg AFB activities, go to
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil.

All launch dates and times are given in Pacific Time using a 24-hour
format similar to military time (midnight = 00:00, 1:00 p.m. = 13:00,
11:00 p.m. = 23:00, etc.). 

The dates and times in this schedule may not agree with those on other
online launch schedules, including the official Vandenberg AFB
schedule because different sources were used, the information was
interpreted differently, and the schedules were updated at different
times.

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  NEW SATELLITE INSTRUMENT FOR IMPROVED WEATHER FORECASTS PUT INTO
  SERVICE

  Commissioning of all instrumentation on America’s new Suomi NPP
  satellite nearly complete

                          NOAA News Release

                           2012 February 8

A powerful instrument designed to give scientists more refined
information about Earth’s atmosphere and improve weather and climate
forecasts is now active and sending its first data back to Earth from
America’s newest polar-orbiting satellite. 

The Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) will produce high resolution,
three-dimensional temperature, atmospheric pressure, and moisture
profiles that will be used in NOAA’s weather prediction computer
models to forecast severe weather days in advance. Over longer
timescales this information will also help scientists understand
climate phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña. 

CrIS is one of five instruments aboard the Suomi National
Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (NPP), which NASA launched on
October 28, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Since
it reached orbit, those instruments, including four used in space for
the first time, are undergoing extensive, initial checkouts before
starting regular science observations. 

“Having data from CrIS will improve the quality, timeliness and
accuracy of NOAA’s weather and climate predictions, which directly
benefits everyone in America,” said Mary Kicza, assistant
administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. 

The Suomi NPP team is expected to continue commissioning activities
until the end of March. After that is complete NOAA will operate Suomi
NPP, and process and distribute the data to users around the world. 

“Suomi NPP instrument commissioning is going very well and the team is
pleased that the satellite is taking the next step in its mission of
providing this critical weather data to NOAA,” said Ken Schwer, Suomi
NPP project manager. 

The Suomi NPP mission is the bridge between NOAA’s Polar Operational
Environmental Satellite (POES) and NASA’s Earth Observing System
satellites to the next-generation Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)
which NOAA will operate. 

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the
Suomi NPP mission for the Earth Science Division of the Science
Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NOAA provided
the CrIS instrument and the JPSS program provides the satellite ground
system. NOAA also provides the operational support. 

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's
environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun,
and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us
on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels. 

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