NASA OKs Atmospheric Satellites Launch

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – NASA gave the green light Wednesday to launch a pair of atmospheric research satellites designed to give scientists their first three-dimensional view of how clouds form.

A Delta 2 rocket carrying the CloudSat and Calipso satellites will blast off shortly after 3 a.m. Friday.

CloudSat and Calipso are equipped with instruments to study the formation of clouds and microscopic airborne particles called aerosols in unprecedented detail.

Observations from the satellites should help scientists improve weather and climate forecasts.

CloudSat and Calipso are managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Calipso is short for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. Lidar is the light detection and ranging instrument, which will use a laser transmitter and receiver to probe the atmosphere.

—

On the Net:

CloudSat mission: http://www.nasa.gov/cloudsat

Calipso mission: http://www.nasa.gov/calipso