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WVPE is your gateway to green and sustainable resources in Michiana. Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by finding a balance between businesses, the environment, and our society (people, planet, and profit).State, National and International resources on sustainability include:The Environmental Protection AgencyThe Natural StepSustainability Dictionary45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know Explore ways to support sustainability in the Michiana area through the Green Links Directory.Sept. 17, 2019 from 2-3:30pm"Global Warming: A Hot Topic"Sept. 17, 19, 24, and 26All sessions are from 2-3:30pmGreencroft Goshen Community Center in the Jennings Auditorium1820 Greencroft Blvd.Goshen, IN 46526The event will look at possible solutions and suffering as well as consequences beyond warmer weather. The event will examine what other civilizations have or haven’t done when faced with environmental problems. Plus there will be an exploration of the biggest unknown in the climate system: What will the humans do? Paul Meyer Reimer teaches physics, math and climate change at Goshen College. The events are presented by the Lifelong Learning Institute. The Institute can be reached at: (574) 536-8244lifelonglearning@live.comhttp://life-learn.org/

16 Years After Its Inception, 'GoreSat' Set For Launch ... Soon

NPR | By Scott Neuman

Published February 8, 2015 at 2:59 PM EST

A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket stands ready for a sunset launch from complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Sunday. It will be carrying aloft the DSCOVR satellite.

Update 6:10 p.m. ET Launch Scrubbed

At t-minus 2 minutes and 26 seconds to launch, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scrubbed due to an issue with the system used to track the rocket. The team will review the issue and calculate the next available launch window in order to reschedule.

Our original post continues below:

Al Gore may not have invented the Internet (and, contrary to the popular myth, he never claimed to), but at least he inspired a satellite.

If all goes according to plan, at 6:10 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 will lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying aloft the Deep Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR, that got its start in 1998.

Then-Vice President Gore was fascinated by the Apollo views of Earth from space and thought that having a camera pointed at our planet might cause us to look at it a bit differently.

So, Gore proposed a satellite that would focus a camera back on the Earth from L1, or Lagrangian Point No. 1. L1 is about 930,000 miles away, where the gravitational forces of the Earth and Sun are in equipoise. A spacecraft parked there will remain on station indefinitely. (If you're a fan of the mathematics behind orbital mechanics, here you go).

But, as NPR's Joe Palca reported on Friday: "then Gore lost an election to George W. Bush. The new Republican president and the Republicans in Congress weren't interested in Democrat Gore's pet project. They mockingly called it 'GoreSat.'"

The satellite, then known as Triana, was mothballed. In 2009, however, it was revived, renamed and repurposed as a weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

DSCOVR, which still has Gore's camera aboard, "is not meant to provide the next generation of technology," Mary Kicza, who retired in July as NOAA's assistant administrator for satellite and information services at the agency's Silver Spring, Maryland headquarters, a few miles from Goddard, is quoted by Air& Space as saying. "It was the lowest-cost, lowest-risk option for meeting our requirements."

One more thing: SpaceX will make a second attempt to land the Falcon 9's spent booster stage on a seaborne platform. Their first attempt, last month, was in the words of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk "Close, but no cigar."

Space.com has a live feed of the launch, courtesy of NASA TV, here.