File:KSC-05-S-00293 (ksc 081505 goesn dress 13).webm

English: BRUCE BUCKINGHAM: And our last question today is from Stuart in Charlottesville, and the question is: 'Why the tight launch window for a weather satellite?' ANDRE' DRESS: Okay, that's a really excellent question. And it has to do, it gets down to the configuration of the spacecraft and orbit geometry, so a lot of factors in here. So the spacecraft is actually buttoned up in a certain way, we have a solar array panel that's mounted on the spacecraft, so it's very important to actually point that panel towards the Sun. At the same time, we actually have constraints on when we can do maneuvers orbitally in those certain locations, as well as maintain communication with the Earth. Okay, so with all those three factors defined, okay, the spacecraft has to be at a certain place, at a certain location and a certain attitude, and at a certain place where the Sun is actually pointing at the panels, and so all those things just happen to line up at a certain time, and so getting it there at that point and that time is a tight constraint. And that's kind of what's defining our window and getting, launching in that window and making sure that we have the proper orientation for all these maneuvers. BRUCE BUCKINGHAM: Well, thanks, Andre, for answering our questions. It's been a real pleasure having you here in our studio. ANDRE' DRESS: I'm happy to be here. BRUCE BUCKINGHAM: Thank you.