GOES-K UPDATE #2

Operations continue to go well as NASA controllers work toward moving the GOES-K spacecraft into its final geosynchronous orbit. Yesterday, controllers performed the third and final Apogee Motor Firing at 3:26 p.m. EDT, designed to bring the spacecraft Perigee to a geosynchronous altitude. Perigee is the point in which the spacecraft is closest to the Earth.

On Saturday night, April 26, at 9:51 p.m. EDT, controllers reported that the first Apogee Motor Firing went exceptionally well. On Tuesday, April 29, at 4:10 p.m. EDT, controllers performed the second firing which lasted for 30 minutes.

According to the NASA GOES-K Operations Manager, Doug McCuistion, "our burns so far have been quite successful. All the burn temperatures have been within allowable limits and we are very pleased with the spacecraft's performance at this point in the mission."

The final apogee adjust maneuver is scheduled for tomorrow morning at approximately 9:50 a.m. EDT.

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Apogee is the point at which a satellite is farthest from the Earth and at its minimum velocity. Apogee burns are designed to boost GOES-K from its transfer orbit to geosynchronous orbit 22,240 miles (35,788 kilometers) above the Earth's equator. This third in a series of most sophisticated weather satellites ever built, was launched into space Friday morning, April 25, from the Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla.

GOES-K was built and launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under technical guidance and project management by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The primary objective of the GOES-K launch is to provide a full capability satellite in an on-orbit storage condition, to assure NOAA continuity in services from a two-satellite constellation.

Information will be updated on the Goddard Audio News Service, (301) 286-NEWS, as it becomes available.

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