NPP weather satellite nearly ready for crucial mission

The oft-delayed NPOESS Preparatory Project, once a symbol of bureaucratic mismanagement, is back on track for liftoff in October on an essential mission to supply weather and climate data to meteorologists. The U.S. weather satellite is more than halfway though a series of environmental tests to verify the craft's ability to withstand the harsh conditions of rocket flight and low Earth orbit. Originally planned to launch in 2006, the NPP satellite was conceived as a research and technology demonstration mission. But cascading delays of the country's next-generation polar weather satellites thrust NPP into a make-or-break role as an operational asset for forecasters. More

(Source: Space Flight Now - Feb 5)