NOAA’s next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) weather and environmental satellite will be the focus of a media opportunity at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016, at the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida.
The event is an opportunity to photograph GOES-R and interview project and program officials from NOAA, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, builder of the spacecraft, and Harris Corp., which developed the ground system. The GOES-R mission is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Complex 41 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Nov. 4, 2016, at 5:40 p.m. EDT.
For the Tuesday, Sept. 27, event, there will be a single opportunity to photograph the spacecraft at 9:30 a.m. Because of requirements in the clean room, only two representatives from a media organization will be allowed to participate. No more than 24 participants will be allowed to sign up for this opportunity, which is on a space-available basis.
All news media must RSVP for this event no later than Thursday, Sept. 22, by contacting Jennifer Horner by email at jennifer.p.horner@nasa.gov. If an RSVP is not received for each attending media representative, you will not be approved to participate in the press opportunity.
Only news media who are United States citizens may attend this event. A government-issued photo identification, such as a state-issued driver’s license, will be required for access to Astrotech. Access to Astrotech will begin at 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 27.
Please read the instructions below carefully or you may be denied access to the clean room after arrival at Astrotech.
Long pants and closed-toe shoes must be worn. No tank tops, shorts or skirts will be permitted. Procedures for optically sensitive spacecraft must be followed by individuals entering the clean room where the spacecraft is being prepared for launch. Full clean-room attire (bunny suits) must be worn and will be furnished. Please do not wear perfume, cologne, hair spray or makeup. Those wearing makeup will be required to remove it prior to entry. Photographers will need to clean camera equipment under the supervision or assistance of contamination-control specialists. All camera equipment must be self-contained.
Nonessential equipment, such as suede, leather or vinyl camera bags, carrying cases, camera straps, or accessories with Velcro must be left outside the clean room. No notebook paper, pencils or click-type ball point pens are permitted; clean-room paper and nonretractable ball point pens will be provided.
Use of wireless microphones and cellular telephones will be permitted if not contained in external cases or holding devices. Electronic flash will be permitted. The lighting in the facility is metal halide (white) for pictures.
No food, chewing gum, tobacco, lighters, matches or pocketknives will be allowed and so should not be brought to the Astrotech clean room.
NOAA manages the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office and is responsible for the science and applications of the data. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides the spacecraft project management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for GOES-R. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and is responsible for spacecraft development, integration and testing. Mission operations will be performed by NOAA at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Harris Corp., of Melbourne, Florida, provided GOES-R’s main instrument payload, the Advanced Baseline Imager, the antenna system for data receipt and the ground segment.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch management. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is the provider of the Atlas V launch service.
For more information about the GOES-R Program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/goes
-end-
George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov
Sean Potter
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1536
sean.potter@nasa.gov
John Leslie
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
301-713-0214
john.leslie@noaa.gov