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NPP half-enclosed in its fairing

NPP half-enclosed in its fairing
NPP half-enclosed in its fairing At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 in California on October 20, 2011, technicians monitor the movement of a section of the clamshell-shaped Delta payload fairing as it encloses NPP. The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent and will be jettisoned once the spacecraft is outside the Earth's atmosphere.

NPP represents a critical first step in building the next generation of Earth-observing satellites. NPP will carry the first of the new sensors developed for this satellite fleet, once called the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) but now known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), which is scheduled for launch in 2016. (Thus "NPP" is an initialism containing an outdated acronym: NPOESS Preparatory Project.) NPP is the bridge between NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the forthcoming series of JPSS satellites. The mission will test key technologies and instruments for the JPSS missions. NASA / Mark P. Mackley, VAFB