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Members of the media take notes as panelists talk about the planned Oct. 27 launch of the first Earth-observing satellite to measure both global climate changes and key weather variables during a briefing, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2011, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) is the first mission designed to collect critical data to improve weather forecasts in the short-term and increase our understanding of long-term climate change.