Harris touts imager with launch footage
The launch of a powerful imaging satellite from Florida this week was recorded in footage captured by one of its predecessors.
Melbourne-based Harris Corp. shared two image sequences Friday of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket taking off, carrying with it the weather imaging satellite GOES-S — which becomes the GOES-17 when it reaches orbit.
The footage, which patches together images taken each minute, was captured by the GOES-16 satellite, which launched in November 2016.
“The older generation of GOES satellites could not have captured this because the image rate was too infrequent,” said Paul Griffith, a chief scientist for Harris on its Advanced Baseline Imager, which snapped the shots. “It’s a great visual demonstration of what can be seen with the higher resolution and additional spectral bands.”
In one of the sequences, a brief puff of smoke can be seen on the Space Coast as the Atlas V launches.
The rocket launched at 5:02 p.m. Thursday, which was the scheduled time, and the smoke lingers for about five minutes in the sequence.
In the second sequence, the launch vehicle can be seen more clearly as it lifts and comes closer to GOES-16 cameras.
The GOES-17 will monitor the western part of the U.S. while its GOES-16 cousin monitors the east.
Orlando’s tech community has its own version of March Madness in store this month.
An Orlando Tech Association newsletter sent out Thursday announced that it had launched #OTechMadness, which is an informal collaboration among several groups to promote their events this month.
“Every month, the Orlando Tech Association aims to bring together entrepreneurs, creatives and technologists in the Orlando Regional Tech community for a conversation about developments in technology relevant to growing our community,” the newsletter said. “For March, we're doing something different. We’re celebrating all the tech meetups!”
The post then goes on to list a number of events, including meetup groups, a Nerd Nite Orlando event and an Artificial Intelligencethemed night on March 29.
The March Madness is a friendly event meant to highlight the activity in Orlando’s tech community.
See the full list of events at Orlando Tech’s newsletter website.
The Orange County Library System now offers free Wi-Fi connectivity for patrons at any of its 16 Central Florida locations.
The library rolled out the free service last month but announced it formally Friday.
“We would like to make the library more accessible,” said Viviana Valencia-Serrano, assistant manager of community relations. “By providing free Wi-Fi, we are able to do that.”
The Wi-Fi will be available during library hours and no library card will be required for login.
The library system has focused heavily on technology in recent years.
The downtown branch four years ago debuted the Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center, a high-tech hub that lets patrons experiment with high-tech equipment, including audio mixers and video equipment.