The Government Accountability Office says the problems with NPOESS could produce at least a three-year gap in vital weather coverage. Such a gap, asserts Boehlert, puts American lives at risk. NOAA’s answer: They might delay launch of the last legacy satellite; if it fails, well, the agency is looking into that. Sega says that DOD would employ spaceborne and airborne platforms to provide weather data and, possibly, a service life extension for current DMSP satellites.
The Air Force has begun flying its CV-22 Ospreys again. But that is just the start of a multi-step process to return the fleet to normal operations following a deadly crash last year, the service says.