Spaceflight: December 2009

 https://welib.org/md5/6dee2442a0809e1f92f8c1dc09aa639f

NOAA-15

 1998-030A

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NOAA K was built by LMMS/East Windsor. First in a new series with additional microwave sensors for weather measurements in cloudy regions. Will replace NOAA 12 and work with NOAA 14. NASA GSFC turns over control to NOAA SOCC/Suitland,Md after a 60 day verification period. The new AVHRR has an extra near IR channel. Launch will be to 1930LT SSO.

NOAA K is 4.2 l, 1.9m dia with a 2.7 x 6.1 m solar array. Mass is 2232 kg full, 1476 dry. AKM has 42.38 kN over 55s.

After launch, the VHF Realtime Antenna did not fully deploy, sending noisy APT signals. The APT images are used by remote sites to obtain weather info.

NOAA K
Date	Time	Event	Orbit
1998 May 13	1552:04	Launch by Titan II G-12
		T+2:30 Stage 1 MECO
		T+2:33 Stage 1 sep
		T+3:40 Fairing sep
	1558:38	T+6:34 Stage 2 sep	-2600? x 800? x 98.7
	1606:43	T+14:39 AKM burn
	1607:34	T+15:30 AKM burnout
		T+16:00 end velocity trim
		T+20m solar array deploy
	1620?	Stage 2 reentry
		T+34m handover
1998 May 13			101.21 808 x 823 x 98.7
1998 Oct		In service, replacing NOAA 12
1998 Dec 14		Primary morning spacecraft
2006 Aug		AM Secondary

Payload:

• AVHRR/3 Advanced V high resolution radiometer, 6 channels

• HIRS/3 High resolution IR sounder

• AMSU-A Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, 15 channels for T, hum.

• AMSU-B Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, 5 chan for H20 profiles