SPACEPHOTOS

(01/07/1999) --- Workers (right) at Astrotech, Titusville, Fla., arrange the lights for an illumination test on the solar panel of the GOES-L weather satellite. The test is verifying the circuitry on the panel. The satellite is to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station aboard an Atlas II rocket in late March. The GOES-L is the fourth of a new advanced series of geostationary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is a three-axis inertially stabilized spacecraft that will provide pictures and perform atmospheric sounding at the same time. Once launched, the satellite, to be designated GOES-11, will undergo checkout and provide backup capabilities for the existing, aging GOES East weather satellite