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NASA weather?

PotomacBob ๐Ÿšซ

I heard a news report on the radio about a typhoon hitting China. The final line of the report said that, according to NASA, the typhoon is the worst storm in the world right now.
NASA is reporting weather? I knew they were involved in reporting space weather, but I do not recall that NASA was involved in reporting weather conditions on earth.
Am I just behind the times, or is this something new? Or maybe an error and it should have said NOAA? I can make use of this in a WIP if it's something new.

Replies:   jimq2  Dominions Son  DBActive
jimq2 ๐Ÿšซ

@PotomacBob

NASA has the global satellites and can see what is happening over China and the rest of the world.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@PotomacBob

Am I just behind the times, or is this something new? Or maybe an error and it should have said NOAA? I can make use of this in a WIP if it's something new.

The satellites that feed data to NOAA and the US Weather Service are launched and managed by NASA, along with spy satellites.

That said, it would be unusual for NASA to make such an announcement rather than NOAA or the US Weather Service.

Since you heard this second hand, from a radio program, I would consider the possibility that the radio announcer misspoke.

Replies:   Big Ed Magusson
Big Ed Magusson ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Two corrections:

NASA does not launch and manage spy satellites. The Air Force does that. Space Force now.

NASA does monitor climate, distinct from weather that NOAA does. So it is possible that NASA could claim that this was the worst ever, but very unlikely while a storm was happening. NASA's climate reports aren't issued in real time.

Replies:   Paladin_HGWT
Paladin_HGWT ๐Ÿšซ

@Big Ed Magusson

NASA does not launch and manage spy satellites. The Air Force does that. Space Force now.

It is a bit more complicated. The various branches of the USA armed forces each manage their own "spy" satellites. Even with the creation of Space Force, at least the US Navy retains some control over some specific satellites.

NASA and/or the US Space Force handle the launch (and contol subsequent alterations to the path) of most satelites belonging to various agencies of the US government.

However the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), NSA (National Security Agency aka "No Such Agency"), NRO (National Reconnaissance Agency), and others, maintain control of their own satellites (and may outsource their launch into orbit too).

Since before the year 2000 the USAF has/had tried to gain control of "Everything that Flies" to include ALL satellites; this mania has been 'inherited' by the US Space Force... However, the CIA / NSA /NRO et-al have ferociously resisted such a monopoly.

It is not wise to have all of a nations satellites controlled by one source. It would create a Single Point of Failure. We would not want all of our satellites to be vulnerable to a single exploit. In the past the USSR compromised the US Navy's satellite network, at leas t the communications aspects of it; but they weren't able to simultaneously compromise al of the USA armed forces, let alone the intelligence agencies.

"Need to Know" should be a limiting factor in how many individuals are aware of top secret matters. Having to include Space Force in the day to day operations of all satellites would significantly compromise our intelligence gathering.

NASA, NOAA, and other agencies, not part of the DoD (now the Department of War, and the Department of the Navy?), also have their own satellites that are not controlled by the US Space Force.

Space Force is responsible for defending, such as is possible, mostly by deterrence, all satellites owned by entities of the USA, to include commercial entities. Such a mandate, at least at this time, is nearly immpossible to achieve, except by deterrence: "If you shootdown some of our satellites, we will shoot down more of yours!" (or possibly "capture" hostile satellites)

DBActive ๐Ÿšซ

@PotomacBob

However, Typhoon Ragasa (also called Nando) has broken the quiet spell. The storm emerged on September 18 in the western Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles east of the Philippines. After periods of rapid intensification that brought it to Category 5 strength, the storm lashed northern Luzon and Taiwan on September 22, causing floods, landslides, and damage to crops and property. With sustained winds that reached more than 145 knots (270 kilometers or 165 miles per hour) late on September 21, the super typhoon ranked as the strongest typhoon of 2025

NASA's Earth Observatory
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/154824/ragasa-steers-toward-china

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