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GOES-R arrived in Florida at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center this week. Once launched, the satellite will offer three times more data with four times greater resolution, five times faster than ever before. This means faster and more accurate data for NOAA's National Weather Service. GOES-R will improve hurricane tracking and intensity forecasts, increase thunderstorm and tornado warning lead time, and enhance space weather monitoring.
NOAA satellites enable our meteorologists to issue forecasts that save lives and protect communities and property -- before and during storms. These photos show the journey GOES-R made from Colorado to Florida in preparation for launch on November 4 from Cape Canaveral.
Technicians prepare to load the GOES-R satellite onto the aircraft in Colorado
The satellite traveled on board a truck from Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colorado, to a waiting U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy cargo jet at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. Moving a 6,000 pound satellite cross country takes a lot of people, trucks, aircraft and patience. (Michael Starobin, NOAA/NASA)
Aircraft carrying GOES-R satellite ready for take off
It takes a huge aircraft to move NOAA’s GOES-R satellite – The interior of the aircraft included a semi-truck carrying the GOES-R satellite, as well as the satellite’s ground support equipment. (Michael Starobin, NOAA/NASA)
NOAA’s GOES-R satellite arrives in Florida on a massive U.S. Air Force C-5 aircraft. The aircraft touched down on the same three-mile long runway previously used by NASA’s Space Shuttle. Members of the GOES-R team wait anxiously on the tarmac. (Michael Starobin, NOAA/NASA)
The GOES-R satellite is unloaded from Air Force plane
After unloading the satellite from the aircraft, it is transported to a specially equipped storage facility, where workers will unwrap it, inspect and prepare it for launch. NOAA’s revolutionary GOES-R satellite will enable meteorologists to issue more accurate and timely forecasts and warnings to help save lives and protect communities. (Michael Starobin, NOAA/NASA)
Technicians carefully unload NOAA’s GOES-R, which weighs more than 6,000 pounds – about the same size as a pilot whale. More accurate, faster data and more precise imagery means when a hurricane is bearing down on our coastlines, officials can make better decisions about evacuations. (Michael Starobin, NOAA/NASA)
GOES-R is unwrapped and inspected in the clean room
Staff in protective clothing unwrap the GOES-R satellite in the “clean room.” The satellite has many parts that are sensitive to contamination, so engineers and technicians wear special clothing to protect the satellite in a room that is designed to keep it safe until it is encapsulated on top of the rocket for launch. (Michael Starobin, NOAA/NASA)
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