The
Speaker this month is Tim Gasparrini. Mr. Gasparrini is the GOES-R program
manager and vice president at Lockheed Martin Aerospace who is the builder of
the GOES spacecraft. Tim will tell us about the GOES program, its mission and
history and the new GOES-17 spacecraft which was just launched in March of this
year.
GOES-17
(formerly GOES-S) is the second of the current generation of weather satellites
operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The
four satellites of the series (GOES-16, -17, -T, and -U) will extend the
availability of the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
system) until 2036 for weather forecast and meteorology research. NOAA’s most
recent GOES series of satellites is designed to improve the forecasts of
weather, ocean, and environment by providing faster and more detailed data,
real-time images of lightning, and advanced monitoring of solar activities and
space weather. GOES-17 can collect three times more data at four times image
resolution, and scan the planet five times faster than previous probes.
Mr.
Gasparrini joined Martin Marietta in 1984 and has held various mechanical
engineering assignments on the Mars Global Surveyor, STARDUST, Mars Odyssey, and
Mars 2001 Lander Programs. In 2008, Tim was selected as the Mechanical Manager
on the GRAIL Program. IN 2009 Tim became program manager for the JUNO
spacecraft mission to Jupiter and then in 2011 Director of Space Exploration
Systems. After that in 2014 Tim was appointed GOES program manager and a
Lockheed Martin Vice President. With the formation of the Commercial Civil
Space Line of Business in 2017, Tim was selected as the Deputy for the
organization.
Tim holds
a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering from The Florida Institute of
Technology and an MS in Civil Engineering and an MBA from the University of
Colorado.
Weather permitting after the presentation, visitors will be invited to look through the large telescope at various celestial objects. Public star nights are held the third Friday of each month, except July, when the observatory is closed for annual maintenance.
If you have any questions, please call the observatory information line at 970-613-7793 or check the LTO web site at www.starkids.org [1]