NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have appointed a board to investigate an instrument anomaly aboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 17 weather satellite currently in orbit.
During postlaunch testing of the satellites Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument, it was discovered that the instruments infrared detectors cannot be maintained at their required operating temperatures under certain seasonal and orbital conditions,resulting in a loss of approximatelythree percent of the instruments availability over the course of a year. This loss exceeds a key design requirement.
NASA and NOAA senior leadership have determined the need to convene the mishap investigation board, whichwill work to determine the root or proximate cause of the anomaly and identify actions to prevent occurrences on future satellites.The board will begin its work as soon as possible.
David McGowan, chief engineer at NASAs Langley Research Center, will chair the five-member board. The other four members are:
- Dr.Joel Lachter, human factors investigator, NASAs Ames Research Center
- Rich Slywczak, safety officer, NASAs Glenn Research Center
- Hank Rotter,NASAEngineering and Safety Centertechnical fellow for active thermal systems, NASAs Johnson Space Center
- Julie Grantier, senior technical lead for systems engineering, NASAs Glenn Research Center
GOES-17 is one of several next-generation weather satellites in theGOES-Rseries, includingGOES-16, which currently serves as the operational geostationary weather satellite over the U.S. East coast.Later this year, GOES-17 willbecomeoperational asthe GOES West satellite. Two additional satellites, GOES-T and GOES-U, are currently in development. The advanced instrument technology used on these satellites is contributing to more timely and accurate weather forecasts and warnings.
The GOES-R Series program is a collaborative effort between NOAA, NASA and industry partners.NOAA manages the GOES-R Series program through an integrated NOAA/NASA office at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASA also oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft, instruments and launch vehicles. Mission operations are performed by NOAA at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.
