【I Am a Plaything】

The I Am a PlaythingGOES-S weather satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, joining its sibling satellite GOES-R.

Here's a GIF of it, tweeted by atmospheric scientist Dakota Smith. GOES-R captured its twin bursting through the atmosphere so quickly, you'll miss it if you blink.

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Here's another view from GOES-R, now known as GOES-16, which operates in the GOES-East position. GOES-S will be known as GOES-17, and will operate in the GOES-West position.

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The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites will orbit the Earth at 22,300 miles above the surface, providing weather forecasters with data for almost the entire Western hemisphere.

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It's part of a $10.83 billion upgrade to drastically improve predictions for severe weather, from hurricanes to solar storms. GOES-S is the second of four geostationary satellites to launch between now and 2024.

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