The Moon makes a stunning backdrop for the successful launch of the third in a series of polar-orbiting weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and our Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) on November 10 at 4:49 a.m. EST from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carried the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 and LOFTID. Credit: United Launch Alliance
Last week the NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite, with
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite with NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) as a secondary payload, stand ready to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on November 10. Credit: NASA/Liz Wilk
The Mobile Service Tower rolls back from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 civilian polar-orbiting weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: United Launch Alliance
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 civilian polar-orbiting weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) lifts off from Space Launch Complex-3 on November 10 at 1:49 a.m. PST. Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Joe Davila
Credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Joe Davila
Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: United Launch Alliance
Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin
JPSS-2/LOFTID isolated views featuring launch, JPSS-2 spacecraft separation, LOFTID inflation, LOFTID spin up and spacecraft separation, and LOFTID splashdown. Credit: NASA
