NASA launches latest Earth-observing satellite (AP)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – After a years-long delay, an Earth-observing satellite blasted into space early Friday on a dual mission to improve weather forecasts and monitor climate change.

A Delta 2 rocket carrying the NASA satellite lifted off shortly before 3 a.m. from the central California coast. The satellite separated from the rocket about an hour after launching, unfurled its solar panels and headed toward an orbit 500 miles above Earth.

NASA invited a small group of Twitter followers to watch the pre-dawn launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, where weather conditions were ideal. Skies were clear and there was little wind.

"It was a thrill to watch the bird go up this morning in the beautiful clear night sky with the stars out there," Mary Glackin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said at a post-launch news conference.

The satellite joins a fleet already circling the planet, collecting information about the atmosphere, oceans and land. The latest — about the size of a small SUV — is more advanced and carries four new instruments capable of making more precise observations.

Mission project scientist Jim Gleason said he could not wait for the data to "start flowing." NOAA meteorologists planned to use the information to improve their forecasts of hurricanes and other extreme weather while climate researchers hope to gain a better understanding of long-term climate shifts.

Besides collecting weather information, the satellite will track changes in the ozone, volcanic ash, wildfires and Arctic sea ice.

Many satellites currently in orbit are aging and will need to be replaced. The newest satellite is intended to be a bridge between the current fleet and a new generation that NASA is developing for NOAA.

The $1.5 billion mission's path to the launch pad has been rocky. It was part of a bigger civilian-military satellite program that the White House axed last year because of cost overruns. The satellite was originally scheduled to fly in 2006, but problems during development of several instruments led to a delay.

Engineers will spend some time checking out the satellite's instruments before science operations begin. Built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., the satellite is expected to orbit the Earth for five years.

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Massachusetts Latest Victim of Terrible Tornado Season (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Massachusetts is known for its blizzards, Democrats and being the cradle of the Revolution. But it most certainly is not known for its deadly tornadoes. But then, 2011 has not been an average year for twisters either.

In one of the deadliest years for tornadoes on record in the United States, Yahoo! News reports an outbreak of storms caused at least three deaths in Massachusetts and injured 200 people. Even though residents had fair warning of the twisters, there were still some caught in the damage path as people may not have been used to tornadoes in the area.

Springfield, Mass., the hardest hit by the storms, doesn't even have a storm siren system. On the city's website, tornadoes aren't even mentioned in the A-Z to index. That's how much the northeast pays attention to tornado weather.

Massachusetts doesn't get many tornadoes per year. The current average is around two annually. From 1953-2004, the average was closer to three twisters a year. This storm spawned at least two confirmed tornadoes.

With the death toll of the Massachusetts twisters, 2011 is now the deadliest year for tornadoes on record since the National Weather Service began keeping track of tornado deaths. As many as 522 people have been killed, reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, eclipsing the number in 1953 when 519 died.

June of 1953 was also the last time a huge tornado ripped through Massachusetts. Almost 100 people died as the storm was part of an outbreak that had devastated Flint, Mich., a day earlier. The similarities between 1953 and 2011 are becoming eerily familiar.

Tornado season isn't even finished yet, even as hurricane season begins. If another 30 people die in tornadoes this year, it will be the second deadliest year in America on record save for 1925. Any tornado deaths from before 1950 are unofficial, as they are just estimates of the number of people who perished.

The reason tornadoes have moved farther north in June is where the jet stream resides. Colder air retreats farther to the north, closer to the Arctic, which gives fewer chances for southerly warm and moist air to collide with cooler air up north.

During April and May, the jet stream dips farther south, causing tornadoes in southern parts of the United States. June and even July should be considered tornado season for the upper Midwest and Northeast. Tornadoes tore down hundreds of trees in the Bronx during a freakish EF1 tornado in July of 2010.

The Los Angeles Times headline said it best, proclaiming, "In tornado-struck Massachusetts, it feels like Missouri." With few notable exceptions, such as a lack of tornado sirens, Massachusetts could very well be Missouri all over again. Many citizens were trapped in their cars. Fortunately, the tornado wasn't strong enough to flip over cars as the one in Joplin, Mo., did.

The fear was still the same. Watching a tornado coming at you as you're helpless to do anything would terrify anyone. This year can't be over with fast enough.

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