Artists impression of GOES-R
Besides taking awesome pictures with telescopes and studying deep space, astronomers often work with geologists to study the structure of Earth and our weather patterns. One such endeavor is the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) project, run by the US Environmental, Satellite, Data, and Information Service. Their job is to launch satellites that constantly study weather patterns on different part of the Earth so that the weather man can give us an "accurate" forecast each morning. The GOES satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit around earth. That means they orbit the Earth at the same speed at which the Earth rotates, allowing the satellite to appear stationary in space from a given spot on Earth. Currently there are 5 functional satellites (GOES 11-15), with the next generation (GOES-R, artists impression above) pending launch in 2015. Want to learn more about GOES, GOES-R and their mission pgoals? Have children that are interested in space and weather? Check out the GOES-R page for kids: scijinks.gov, or download the free game app: Satellite Insight.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
