Yup, Earth is still there: GOES-18 goes online, sends 1st image of planet

“Hello, world!” A NASA tweet greeted the internet Wednesday with a beautiful image of the bluish gem-like Earth — the first image captured by the newest weather satellite orbiting the planet. GOES-18, short for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, blasted off in March from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket thanks to a collaboration between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA along with several other partners. GOES-18 is a weather monitoring satellite that should help meteorologists determine potential areas of d...