GOES 8

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GOES-8
Artist's impression of a GOES-I series satellite in orbit
Mission typeWeather satellite
OperatorNOAA / NASA
COSPAR ID1994-022A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.23051
Mission duration3-5 years (planned)
10 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Space Systems/Loral
Launch mass2,105 kilograms (4,641 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date13 April 1994, 06:04 (1994-04-13UTC06:04Z) UTC
Rocket
LC-36B
ContractorMartin Marietta
End of mission
DisposalDecommissioned
Deactivated5 May 2004 (2004-05-06)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Longitude75° West
SlotGOES-EAST (1995-2003)
Eccentricity0.0005384
Perigee altitude36,151 kilometres (22,463 mi)
Apogee altitude36,197 kilometres (22,492 mi)
Inclination10.89°
Period1,456.0 minutes

GOES-8, known as GOES-I before becoming operational, was an American

LS-1300
satellite bus, and was the first of five GOES-I series satellites to be launched.

Launch

GOES-I was launched aboard a

apogee motor.[3] During the first burn of the apogee motor, an unusually high temperature was detected in one of the flanges upon which a thruster was mounted,[6] however later analysis, based on satellites using similar thruster systems, demonstrated that it was still acceptable.[6] During the third burn, a malfunction of the computer controlling the attitude control system caused several manoeuvring thrusters to fire. This resulted in the burn being aborted.[6]

GOES-8 was eventually raised to the correct orbit, and positioned at a longitude of 75° West.[4][7] Following on-orbit testing, it was activated as the GOES-EAST satellite, allowing GOES-7, which had previously been covering both positions, to assume GOES-WEST operations.

Operations

The first image returned by GOES-8

GOES-8 suffered from a design fault with the motor windings in its imager and sounder, with one of two sets failing within a few years of it becoming operational. If the other set had failed, it would have made the system inoperable. This fault also occurred on the GOES-9 satellite, which was launched in 1995. It was corrected before GOES-10 was launched.[8] In 1997, one of its momentum wheels failed, however unlike with GOES-9, the other wheel was not affected, and the satellite was able to continue operations.[4] GOES-8 was also featured in the 1996 film Twister.

GOES-8 was retired from GOES-EAST operations in 2003, when it was replaced by GOES-12.[9] Following this it remained in storage for a year as a backup, before being boosted to a graveyard orbit between 4 and 5 May 2004.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "GOES-NEWS". NASA. 2009-05-09. Archived from the original on 2004-06-05. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  2. ^ "GOES-8 Spacecraft Status Summary". NOAA. Archived from the original on 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  3. ^ a b Krebs, Gunter. "GOES-8, 9, 10, 11, 12". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  4. ^ a b c d "GOES-I Status". NOAA. Archived from the original on 2004-07-04. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  5. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-387-21519-0
    .
  7. ^ Wade, Mark. "GOES-Next". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 21, 2002. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  8. ^ "GOES Motor Windings". NASA. 2001-04-27. Archived from the original on 2004-07-13. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  9. ^ "GOES-8/12 Transition Plan" (PDF). NASA. 2002-10-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-10-30. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
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