spacetoday.net: GOES-13 returns to service

Posted: Tue, Jun 11, 2013, 6:10 AM ET (1010 GMT)
GOES-N illustration (Boeing)

A weather satellite returned to service on Monday after being knocked out of action last month because of a micrometeroid strike, NOAA announced. Instruments on the GOES-13 weather satellite stopped producing data on May 22, and engineers put the spacecraft into a safe mode while they investigated the problem. They concluded a micrometeroid or other small object likely struck the arm that holds the spacecraft's solar array panel, knocking the spacecraft off-balance. The strike did not damage the spacecraft, and normal operations have resumed. GOES-13, also known as GOES-East, provides images and other data for the eastern part of the US and the Atlantic Ocean region, and plays a particularly critical role this time of year as the Atlantic hurricane season begins.