The Atlas V 541 included a 17-ft (5-m) diameter short payload fairing. This configuration has launched missions for the National Reconnaissance Office, carried the GOES-R and -S satellites into space, and most recently launched the Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. The mission launched on an Atlas V 541 configuration rocket, which first flew in November 2011 with NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover. The orbital delivery accurately placed the spacecraft closer to its final destination which conserves the satellite’s fuel supply and enables a longer mission life.” “The Atlas V delivered GOES-T directly to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. This successful launch adds to the GOES-R series, the Western Hemisphere’s most sophisticated weather observation and environmental monitoring system,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “Thank you to NASA, NOAA and our mission partners for your teamwork to launch this important mission. To date ULA has launched 149 times with 100 percent mission success. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. ULA and heritage vehicles have launched every GOES spacecraftĬAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., Ma(ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-T spacecraft for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA lifted off on March 1 at 4:38 p.m. People that worked on the Space shuttles, stories from people whose colleagues worked in the Apollo era, history from the Atlas and Delta development and - more.A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-T mission for NOAA and NASA lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 4:38 p.m. There are some crazy smart people here too, the types of people that just make your jaw drop when you go into their office and they start flying through diff-eq's on the whiteboard and you just sort of nod along like "yea that makes sense" as you immediately go back through your old textbooks afterwards. as long as you are online to support any meetings/discussions you need to and hit your hours/get your work done. Managers are very flexible, I mix and match my hours in the day, go for a bike ride in the middle of the day, etc.
Overtime is also payed to employees when it's needed to help a critical path item which is really nice. You're not forced to work long hours, if you want to clock 40 a week and leave you can, if you work longer and get more done the managers recognize and reward that effort (I did the latter and was promoted early). We joke, we solve tough problems, we mentor and help each other out, and sometimes we shoot nerf guns at each other when we disagree (or when we need to get someone's attention). I enjoy the work and have a lot of fun interacting with my team. The culture, the team, the leaders I have worked with have all embodied that.
In my two years since I started here I have felt like part of a family. After my first job out of school at SpaceX, I was deciding between a promotion position with offers at Relativity, Blue and ULA.