Check out the video below, which features one image per day since April 1, 2003:
Now that it’s retired, GOES-12 will be powered down and nudged deeper into its geostationary orbit, reducing its likelihood of crashing into operational spacecraft. That may seem like an unceremonious farewell, but the satellite’s human co-workers sang its praises in a recent press release. “GOES-12 gave the Western Hemisphere many years of reliable data,” said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, “from small storms to those of historic proportions.”
GOES-13 and GOES-15 will now serve as the agency’s two main weather satellites, while GOES-14 waits as a backup in case either one runs intro trouble. And as GOES-13 learned earlier this year, working 22,000 miles high does come with risks: The satellite was knocked offline by a micrometeoroid in May, although NOAA quickly revived it.
Source : MNN
