Climate-monitoring satellites successfully launched into orbit

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/14352040.htm

Well, if we can't change the global weather changes, at least we can watch the storms bearing down on us.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Six weather satellites successfully reached orbit and were ready to begin their five-year mission to track hurricanes, monitor climate change and study space weather, it was announced Saturday.

"Ground stations have received signals from all six satellites," according to an update on the Web site for the project's manager, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.

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The satellites will take about 2,500 daily measurements by using global positioning receivers to track radio signals passing through the atmosphere, scientists said.

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The $100-million mission was funded by Taiwan and several U.S. agencies including the National Science Foundation.

The mission is known as COSMIC in the United States and FORMOSAT-3 in Taiwan. COSMIC stands for Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate.