NASA's New $7.6B Storm Tracker to Save Lives, Money, and Time?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, will be awarding a $7.6 billion contract in December for a storm tracking system that significantly lowers the margin of error of current satellite systems, giving a five-day forecast the accuracy of a three-day forecast. The new system, dubbed GOES-R, will comprise two satellites and ground support and is scheduled to be launched in 2015. The current tracking systems have been in space since the early 1980s and need to retire.
GOES-R, or the Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite, will scan the continental US every five minutes while taking a snapshot of a storm area every 30 seconds, versus the current satellites that scan the US every 15 minutes while taking a scan every 7.5 minutes. The new system will save lives and money by more accurately determining the time and location of a hurricane. Evacuations of hurricane areas are costly productions, after all, since people need to walk away from homes, jobs and support systems for an indeterminate amount of time, so knowing better when, where and if a storm will hit can only make the process more cost-efficient and less costly.
The government is always held accountable when a mistake is made, whether the tornado or hurricane comes or not. Two million people fled the Louisiana coast because of last summer's Hurricane Gustav, creating a frenzy on the highways as schools closed and businesses shut down -- all for nothing in the end. These hurricanes cost taxpayers big bucks -- Katrina cost $82 billion, Gustav cost $15 billion -- so to us a mere $7.6 billion for a new toy is a drop in the bucket, right? [From USA Today]
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