Weather satellite activity mixed

Abstract

On August 21 at 7:15 P.M. EDT, controllers lost contact with the NOAA‐13 weather satellite due to a power system failure aboard the craft. Almost simultaneously, however, representatives of U.S. and European agencies signed an agreement promising mutual cooperation and backup of one another's geostationary weather satellites, effective when both agencies have systems in place, expected in 1995.The newest in a series of polar‐orbiting weather satellites, NOAA‐13 was launched on August 9 from Vandenburg Air Force Base, Calif., to monitor the Earth's ocean and atmosphere, collecting data for direct transmission to users around the world and to central data‐processing centers. According to officials at NASA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the spacecraft showed steadily decreasing battery voltages and currents during ground passes after 3:45 EDT on August 21, although output from the solar panels remained normal. Charles E. Thienel, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., stated that these circumstances indicate a failure in the circuitry between the solar arrays and the batteries.