A view of NPP after Ball Aerospace completed integration and performance testing of the satellite's Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) instrument.
This photo from NASA's Suomi NPP satellite shows the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth in "Blue Marble" view. The photo, released Feb. 2, 2012, is a companion to a NASA image showing the Western Hemisphere in the same stunning detail. This photo was taken on Jan. 23.
NASA scientists created the two new 'Blue Marble' images from data acquired by a new instrument that's aboard the Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).
Eleven days after its launch into Earth orbit, the new satellite known as NPP sent back its first science data on November 8, 2011. This image from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) depicts the location and abundance of water vapor in the lower atmosphere.
NASA's NPP climate and weather satellite roars into space on Oct. 28, 2011.
NASA's NPP satellite — short for National polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system Preparatory Project — is slated to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Oct. 28, 2011. NPP is the first satellite designed to collect data for both short-term weather forecasting and long-term climate monitoring. It will also lay the foundation for more advanced future Earth-observing craft, researchers say.
NASA's NPP climate and weather satellite launches atop a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in the predawn hours of Oct. 28, 2011.
As NASA's NPP climate and weather satellite streaks into space on Oct. 28, 2011, two solid rocket boosters fall away from its Delta 2 rocket.
NASA's NPP climate and weather satellite undergoes electro magnetic interference testing at a Ball Aerospace facility.
The NPP satellite sits in a cleanroom after electro magnetic interference testing.
Technicians inspect the nadir deck of the NPP spacecraft following thermal vacuum testing.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket that will carry the NPP satellite into space is shown on its way from NASA Hangar 836 to NASA's Launch Complex-2.
A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on Jan. 4, 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed 'Suomi NPP' on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin.
The first stage of the Delta 2 rocket that will launch NASA's NPP satellite is lowered into place at the Space Launch Complex-2 on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Seen here in red is the Rocketdyne engine that will help loft the rocket off the pad.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians use a crane to lift a solid rocket motor for the Delta 2 rocket that will carry NASA's NPP satellite.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians monitor the progress as a crane lifts a solid rocket motor into position for attachment to the Delta 2 rocket that will carry NASA's NPP satellite to orbit.
At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a solid rocket motor for the Delta 2 rocket that will carry NASA’s NPP satellite into space arrives at NASA’s Space Launch Complex-2.
The third stage of NPP's Delta 2 rocket, with several solid rocket motors attached, sits on the pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Technicians monitor the movement of a section of the clamshell-shaped Delta payload fairing as it encloses NASA’s NPP spacecraft at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The Delta II rocket with it's NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft payload is seen shortly after the service structure was rolled back on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. NPP is the first NASA satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting. NPP is scheduled to launch early Friday morning.
A Delta 2 rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. NPP is the first NASA satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting.
A Delta 2 rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. NPP is the first NASA satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting.
A Delta 2 rocket launches with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) spacecraft payload from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. NPP is the first NASA satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting.
Dr. Kathy Sullivan, center, Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and former NASA astronaut, is interviewed by a local television network at NOAA's Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md. after the successful launch of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011.
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, left, watches the launch of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite Operations Center on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in Suitland, Md. U.S Congresswoman Donna Edwards, D-Md., is seen next to Garver.
The Satellite Operations Facility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seen here minutes before the launch of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in Suitland, Md.
