NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. Liftoff is scheduled at 1:25 a.m. PST (4:25 a.m. EST) Thursday, Nov. 10, on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Joint Polar Satellite System is the latest generation of NOAA’s polar-orbiting environmental satellites. JPSS will capture data to inform weather forecasts, helping scientists predict and prepare for extreme weather events. After JPSS-2 safely reaches orbit, LOFTID will follow a re-entry trajectory from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive re-entry. The technology could be further developed to support crewed and large robotic missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads to Earth.
Credit: NASA
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