NASA is testing an inflatable heat shield Thursday morning

The final flight of an Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California will see the launch of an advanced weather satellite, as well as the heat shield experiment.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS-2) mission and NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Flight Test Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) mission will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Thursday, Nov. 4:25 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, According to NASA. If you are awake at that invalid hour, you can watch the event at NASA TV Or in the live broadcast shown below.

JPSS-2 It will join a fleet of satellites in sun-synchronous orbit where it will collect data for global weather models by monitoring wildfires, measuring sea surface temperatures, and observing harmful algal blooms in the ocean. Scientists will use this data to create weather forecasts around the world and track extreme weather events.

When JPSS-2 separates from the rocket to reach its orbit, its companion will begin its journey back to Earth. The LOFTID Heat Shield It will separate from the rocket’s upper stage after the deorbit is burned. LOFTID will then inflate and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere to demonstrate its capabilities. The experiment is designed to slow the spacecraft’s speed, thus protecting their payloads from the scorching temperatures caused by the return of the atmosphere — not just Earth’s, but other planets’ atmospheres as well.

According to NASA, “the technology could be further developed to support large, crewed robotic missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as return heavy payloads to Earth.”

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The launch of the Atlas 5 rocket was originally scheduled for November 1, but it was late due to a faulty battery. On October 29, NASA announced that the Centaur’s upper stage battery needed to be replaced and that the rocket was Survey to be released after five days.

This will be NASA’s 23rd launch on an Atlas 5 rocket, but the last time the space agency will use ULA’s Atlas 5 in Launching the Service Program (Commercial launches of unmanned missions). In its place, ULA hopes to debut in the future Vulcan Centaur missile by early next year.

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