Colorado State Programs & People

CloudSat, the World's Most Sensitive Cloud-Profiling Radar

Updated April 28, 2006

Successful Launch - April 28CloudSat was one of two NASA satellites launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Friday, April 28, 2006, thundering skyward at 3:02 a.m. PDT. The technologies on board CloudSat and Calipso will enable scientists to study how clouds and aerosols form, evolve and interact.

Liftof - the Boeing Delta 2 rocket launching the CALIPSO and CloudSat spacecraft. [Photo: Boeing/Thom Baur]

Liftoff - the Boeing Delta 2 rocket launching the CALIPSO and CloudSat spacecraft.
[Photo: Boeing/Thom Baur]

The launch will be replayed on CSUTV 11, broadcast on Fort Collins Comcast Cable Channel 11, on the following dates:

  • Friday, April 28 - 6:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, April 29 - 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
  • Sunday, April 30 - 8 p.m.

CloudSat will weigh the amount of water and ice in clouds, which dictates how much precipitation clouds produce and how they reflect sunlight and absorb infrared radiation. The radar also will help capture the grand scale of weather systems that can sometimes cover areas as large as the United States.

Ultimately, the information could help scientists predict massive global climate changes and where droughts might occur. The radar should be able to detect more than 90 percent of all ice clouds and 80 percent of all water clouds.

"Clouds are a critical but poorly understood element of our climate," said Dr. Graeme Stephens, CloudSat principal investigator and a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State. "They shape the energy distribution of our climate system and our planet's massive water cycle, which delivers the freshwater we drink that sustains all life."

Seven Years, Seven Launch Dates

Stephens and the CloudSat team have worked on the project since its selection seven years. The team endured launch delays for the past three years, including six in the past week. The project totals $217 million including $185 million from NASA. CloudSat is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Colorado State University provides scientific leadership and science data processing and distribution. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., designed and built the spacecraft. The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Department of Energy contributed resources. U.S. and international universities and research centers support the mission science team.

More Information on the Launch

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