Update: Launch Coverage of Earth-Observing Satellites
Revised dates have been set for the prelaunch briefing and launch of GRACE-FO, NASA's latest Earth-observing satellite mission.
Revised
dates have been set for the prelaunch briefing and launch of the Gravity
Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO), NASA's latest Earth-observing satellite mission.
The briefing, now scheduled for Monday, May 21, and launch no earlier than Tuesday,
May 22, will air on NASA Television and the agency'swebsite, and will be streamed live and archived onhttps://youtube.com/nasajpl/live.A joint mission
with the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), GRACE-FO will provide critical
measurements that will be used together with other data to monitor the movement
of water masses across the planet and mass changes within Earth itself.
Monitoring changes in ice sheets and glaciers, underground water storage, and
sea level provides a unique view of Earth's climate and has far-reaching
benefits. The mission is planned to fly at least five years.The prelaunch news briefing will be held at 10:30
a.m. PDT (1:30 p.m. EDT) May 21 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.Media and the public also may ask questions
during the event via social media using the hashtag #askNASA.Briefing participants
will be:David Jarrett, GRACE-FO program executive in
the Earth Science Division at NASA HeadquartersFrank Webb, GRACE-FO project scientist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion LaboratoryFrank Flechtner, GRACE-FO project manager at
GFZPhil Morton, NASA GRACE-FO project manager at
Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCapt. Jennifer Haden, weather officer for the
30th Space Wing at VandenbergThe satellites will
launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than 12:47 p.m. PDT (3:47 p.m. EDT)
May 22 from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg. GRACE-FO will share its ride
to orbit with five Iridium NEXT communications satellites as part of a commercial
rideshare agreement.Launch coverage
begins at 12:15 p.m. PDT (3:15 p.m. EDT) on NASA Television and the agency's
website.JPL
manages the GRACE-FO mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. GFZ contracted GRACE-FO launch services from Iridium, and SpaceX is
providing the Falcon 9 launch service.Join the
conversation online and follow GRACE-FO on Twitter and Facebook at:https://www.twitter.com/NASAEarthandhttps://www.facebook.com/NASAEarth