Satellite will help warn of tornados

peoples daily ^ | 1/13/09 | people daily

[Flavius]

Chinese meteorologists' ability to forecast typhoons will be greatly enhanced thanks to a new polar orbit satellite, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said yesterday.

Formally handed over to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) yesterday, the FY-3A is one of the world's most advanced satellites of its kind, the CNSA said.

It provides images of a spatial resolution of 250 m, up from 1.1 km by China's other weather forecasting satellites, Yang Jun, director of the National Satellite Meteorological Center under the CMA, said.

[Flavius]

Military Weather Satellite Built By Lockheed Martin Achieves Five Years on Orbit, Exceeding Design Life

Posted on: Thursday, 6 November 2008, 11:17 CST

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Flight 16 (F16) Block 5D-3 spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin , has surpassed five years of on-orbit operations and continues to provide critical weather data to the warfighter, one year beyond its four year design life. The DMSP constellation is built under contract for the U.S. Air Force and is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

As a result of the constellation's exceptional performance, stability and longevity, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. has elected to postpone the planned November 2008 launch of the replacement F18 DMSP spacecraft, preserving future launch options.

"We take great pride in DMSP's sustained record of performance serving the warfighter," said Sue Stretch, Lockheed Martin's DMSP program director. "Our partnership with the Air Force ensures commanders have timely access to environmental data critical to the preparation and execution of military operations and we look forward to providing continued success for our customer."

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1598216/military_weather_satellite_built_by_lockheed_martin_achieves_five_years/index.html

[Flavius]

“Very un-Chinese”

American intelligence believes it was a successful Chinese test of anti-satellite weapons. Launched from the Xichang range, the medium-range ballistic missile carried a kinetic interceptor in place of a warhead, which in a direct hit destroyed a weather satellite put into a polar orbit in 1999 at an altitude of about 860 kilometers.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_Chinese_Satellite_Killer_999.html

[Snickersnee]

Typhoons are not tornadoes. Wassup there?

[devane617]

So what’s up with the title? This is a confusing article/title/post.