KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Launch of the Atlas II rocket bearing the GOES-M satellite gives a burst of light to the night sky, even reflected in the nearby water. Liftoff occurred at 3:23:01 EDT from Launch Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. GOES-M is the last in the current series of advanced geostationary weather satellites in service. GOES-M has a new instrument not on earlier spacecraft, a Solar X-ray Imager, which can be used in forecasting space weather and the effects of solar storms
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