CSU hosts science team meeting for NASA satellite mission INCUS

Before there can be NASA satellite launches, there are planning meetings. Lots of planning meetings.

The first such all-hands meeting for the Colorado State University-led INCUS mission, awarded by NASA last year, took place on the Fort Collins campus Oct. 11-13. The event brought together scientists, engineers and students from CSU, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NOAA, many other universities, industry partners and international collaborators who are all working together on the $177 million NASA Earth Venture mission.

INCUS, or Investigation of Convective Updrafts, is expected to launch three small weather satellites into low-Earth orbit in 2026. With their unique flight formation and miniaturized instrumentation, the satellites will measure the motions of large, damaging storms that can reach into the upper troposphere of the planet.

INCUS’ principal investigator is Susan van den Heever, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science. She leads the 100-plus person team.

Read the full Source article, “CSU hosts science team meeting for NASA satellite mission INCUS.”

Photo by John Eisele: Susan van den Heever welcomed science team attendees to a celebratory dinner at Canvas Stadium.