Thursday saw the launch of NASA’s newest climate satellite into orbit, providing unprecedented detail on a survey of the world’s seas and atmosphere.
Before daybreak, SpaceX launched the $948 million Pace satellite on its mission, sending the Falcon rocket southward across the Atlantic to reach an uncommon polar orbit.
The satellite will observe the atmosphere and the oceans from a height of 420 miles (676 kilometers) for a minimum of three years. Using two science instruments, it will do a daily scan of the entire planet. Monthly measurements will be taken by a third device.
Project scientist Jeremy Werdell predicted that the vision of our home planet would be “unprecedented.” Scientists will be able to better anticipate when hazardous algal blooms will occur, describe how Earth’s temperature is changing, and enhance hurricane and other severe weather forecasts thanks to these measurements.
Over twenty-one NASA Earth-observing satellites and equipment are currently in orbit. However, Pace ought to provide more information about the interactions between marine life, such as algae and plankton, and atmospheric aerosols, such as pollutants and volcanic ash.
Karen St. Germain, director of Earth science at NASA, stated that “Pace will give us another dimension” to what other satellites see.
Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem, or Pace for short, is the most sophisticated expedition ever launched to investigate the biology of the ocean.
Werdell claims that current Earth-observing satellites are capable of seeing in seven or eight hues. In 200 colors, Pace will see thatwill make it possible for scientists to distinguish between different kinds of airborne particles and sea algae.
Researchers anticipate receiving findings in a month or two.
Another cutting-edge Earth-observing satellite that NASA and India are working on is scheduled to launch this year. It will be called Nisar and utilize radar to monitor how melting ice surfaces, such as glaciers, are affected by rising temperatures.
Despite attempts to terminate it by the Trump administration, NASA’s Pace project continued.
Before the launch, Werdell remarked, “As they say, it has been a long, strange trip.
