Atlas V Launch Vehicle on Stand. At Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, teams hoist the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission into a vertical position in preparation for a move into the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) on Sept. 28, 2022. Once JPSS-2 – enclosed inside its protective payload fairing – arrives at the VIF, it will be secured to the top of the rocket. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series that will be used to capture data an
Atlas V Launch Vehicle on Stand. At Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, teams hoist the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission into a vertical position in preparation for a move into the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) on Sept. 28, 2022. Once JPSS-2 – enclosed inside its protective payload fairing – arrives at the VIF, it will be secured to the top of the rocket. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series that will be used to capture data and improve weather forecasts, leading scientists to better predict for extreme weather events and climate change. Launching as a secondary payload to JPSS-2 is NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter. LOFTID is a technology demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could one day help land humans on Mars. Liftoff is targeted for 2:25 Pacific time (5:25 Eastern time) on Nov. 1, 2022, from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 3E.
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