NOAA 14

Also called NOAA J

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General

Designation	23455 / 94089A
Launch date	30 Dec 1994 at 10:02 UT
Country of origin	United States
Mission	Meteorology
Perigee/Apogee	847/861 km
Inclination	98.9°
Period	102 min
Launch vehicle	Atlas E
Launch site	Vandenberg SLC3

Replaced NOAA 11 whose cloud cover imaging instrument had failed a few months before this launch. Besides an imaging radiometer, it carries optical sounders to monitor temperature and moisture content in the atmosphere, and counters to measure energetic electrons and protons.

A gas leak caused some difficulties in attitude control shortly after launch, but this has been resolved. The motor for the Microwave Sounding Unit on the NOAA 14 spacecraft has stopped working. Records show the unit is from a delivery made to Martin Marietta dating back to 1984! The microwave sounder returned to normal operation in May 1995 after a software patch was installed to cope with any repeat failure. Its life expectancy remains uncertain.

In Feb 1995, the SARP failed, the SBUV/2 Cloud Cover Radiometer (CCR) failed, and DTR 4A/B was deemed inoperable.

NOAA 14 also has a power-supply problem in its Sarsat receiver.

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End of life

Out of service	May 2007
Cause	End of life
Decay

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External resources

sat-index articles

Technical data

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Specifications
Payload

HRPT transmissions on 1698 MHz

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