SPACEPHOTOS

(05/04/1999) --- At Astrotech, Titusville, Fla., the GOES-L weather satellite undergoes encapsulation in the first half of the fairing before its transfer to Launch Pad 36A, Cape Canaveral Air Station. At right is the second half of the fairing. The mounted equipment on top of the satellite is a telemetry and command antenna. The fourth of a new advanced series of geostationary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), GOES-L is a three-axis inertially stabilized spacecraft that will provide pictures and perform atmospheric sounding at the same time. After it is launched, the satellite will undergo checkout and then provide backup capabilities for the existing, aging operational satellites. Once in orbit, the satellite will become GOES-11, joining GOES-8, GOES-9 and GOES-10 in space. The GOES is scheduled for launch aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas II rocket later in May