Tag: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Myers Withdraws Nomination to Head NOAA

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Barry Lee Myers

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has withdrawn from consideration for health reasons.

Barry Lee Myers, 76, told The Washington Times that he has had surgery for and is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

Myers’ nomination to lead NOAA had languished in the Senate for more than two years since the White House announced it in October 2017. Opponents of the nomination said he lacked scientific expertise and had conflicts of interest because the position entails overseeing the National Weather Service (NWS).

Myers was previously CEO and general counsel of  AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company founded by his older brother, Joel. The family-owned firm has backed efforts to curtail the information the NWS could release, arguing that the government agency competes with private services.

Myers stepped down from his post at AccuWeather and promised to divest himself of his holdings in the company. But, the moves were insufficient to advance his nomination to a Senate vote.

Trump Administration Opposes Additional Study of Possible 5G Weather Satellite Interference

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GOES-17 satellite during processing by Astrotech. (Credit: NASA)

The Trump Administration is opposed to any further study on whether new 5G communications services will interfere with meteorological satellites and degrade the accuracy of weather forecasting.

In a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the White House said it wants a provision removed from the FY 2020 funding bill that would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to review the impact of 5G services operating in the 23.6 to 24 gigahertz bands on weather satellites.

“Such a study would be directly duplicative of past Agency studies on this subject, which were fully considered by the Administration in a lengthy interagency process earlier this year, leading to a carefully-wrought compromise that balances the spectrum needs of government and private enterprise,” wrote Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Some studies have shown that 5G transmissions could interfere with weather satellites. However, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has criticized the studies as flawed.

China Launch Surge Left U.S., Russia Behind in 2018

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Long March 2F rocket in flight carrying Shenzhou-11. (Credit: CCTV)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The year 2018 was the busiest one for launches in decades. There were a total of 111 completely successful launches out of 114 attempts. It was the highest total since 1990, when 124 launches were conducted.

China set a new record for launches in 2018. The nation launched 39 times with 38 successes in a year that saw a private Chinese company fail in the country’s first ever orbital launch attempt.

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Senate Appropriators Boost NASA’s Budget by $1.25 Billion

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Senate Appropriations Committee PR) – The Senate Committee on Appropriations today approved the FY2020 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act, which makes investments to support law enforcement, economic prosperity, scientific research, space exploration, and other national priorities.

The $70.833 billion measure is $6.715 billion above the FY2019 enacted level and funds the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and related agencies. 

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NOAA Chief Scientist Praises Forecasters, Calls Statement Backing Trump Inappropriate, Political

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Craig McLean

This following is the original message Craig McLean, NOAA Research Assistant Administrator, sent to all NOAA Research employees on the morning of Monday, September 9th regarding Hurricane Dorian and its wide-ranging impacts.

Dear Colleagues,

The fierce storm we know as Hurricane Dorian has concluded its ferocious path through the Bahamas and along the U.S. East Coast. Many of you have contributed to the excellent science that has underpinned the forecasts and current understanding of storms such as this one, which accelerated quite rapidly in intensity. The storm also presented challenges in track which improved with enhanced observations. 

We know that our collective work, from the scientists in the aircraft penetrating the storm, to the scientists deploying the glider picket line, to the modelers and folks working the physics of the storms, across OAR and in our CI’S, and across all NOAA Lines, we are working the problem in order to give the NWS forecasters the best tools we possibly can to keep America and our neighbors safe. Thank you. 

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Report: Wilbur Ross Threatened Firings at NOAA Over Sharpiegate

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Wilbur Ross

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The New York Times reports that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire top officials at NOAA unless they backed President Donald Trump’s claim that he was right when he tweeted about Hurricane Dorian threatening Alabama with worse damage than anticipated.

Meanwhile, NOAA’s top scientist is investigating whether the statement backing Trump’s claim violates the agency’s scientific integrity rules.

Trump tweeted on Sept. 1 that Alabama would be one of the states hit by the Category 5 storm. The warning was quickly contradicted by the National Weather Service’s office in Birmingham, Ala.

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SpaceNav Receives NOAA Contract for Space Situational Awareness

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BOULDER, Colo. (SpaceNav PR) − SpaceNav, a Colorado-based engineering and applied mathematics company has been awarded a new contract by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to deliver subject matter expertise or Space Situational Awareness (SSA) operations. NOAA’s operational fleet of spacecraft resides in both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) regimes and requires real-time safety of flight risk quantification and mitigation; precision orbit determination; and mission production generation.

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NASA Chooses Maxar to Integrate Pollution Monitoring Payload on Commercial Satellite

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An artist’s impression of TEMPO on Maxar’s 1300-class satellite platform. (Credit: Maxar Technologies)

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (Maxar PR) — Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR) today announced that it will integrate and fly NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument on a 1300-class satellite in geostationary (GEO) orbit. TEMPO will be the first space-based instrument to provide hourly monitoring of major air pollutants during the daytime across the North American continent at high spatial resolution.

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