On the 8th February at 23:07 UTC (18:07 EST), the DSCOVR satellite will be launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to L1 orbit. If you wish to find out more about the flight, check out my article about it.
But, what is DSCOVR? The Deep Space Climate Observatory will allow the monitoring of solar wind, aiding space weather forecasts. As DSCOVR will be located at the L1 point, about a million miles from Earth, the satellite will be in an ideal location to give a 15 to 60 minute early warning before solar wind reaches Earth.
Originally proposed in 1998 as Triana by Al Gore, the satellite suffered many setbacks. Initially it was expected to be launched aboard the ill-fated 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle mission, but ultimately was delayed. During Bush’s administration it was put into storage, with no effort being made to give it a new launch date. In November 2008 the satellite was at last removed from storage and work began on recertifying the satellite and finding a launch date and was renamed to DSCOVR.
"I always thought that one way or another, it was going to get up there," said Gore, who plans to be present at Cape Canaveral for the liftoff. "It would've been better years ago, but that's ancient history."
You can watch the launch via NASA TV or the SpaceX webcast.
But, what is DSCOVR? The Deep Space Climate Observatory will allow the monitoring of solar wind, aiding space weather forecasts. As DSCOVR will be located at the L1 point, about a million miles from Earth, the satellite will be in an ideal location to give a 15 to 60 minute early warning before solar wind reaches Earth.
Originally proposed in 1998 as Triana by Al Gore, the satellite suffered many setbacks. Initially it was expected to be launched aboard the ill-fated 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle mission, but ultimately was delayed. During Bush’s administration it was put into storage, with no effort being made to give it a new launch date. In November 2008 the satellite was at last removed from storage and work began on recertifying the satellite and finding a launch date and was renamed to DSCOVR.
"I always thought that one way or another, it was going to get up there," said Gore, who plans to be present at Cape Canaveral for the liftoff. "It would've been better years ago, but that's ancient history."
You can watch the launch via NASA TV or the SpaceX webcast.