NASA Unveils New Climate Mission to Examine Atmosphere and Ocean

NASA Unveils New Climate Mission to Examine Atmosphere and Ocean

At 1:33 a.m. EST on Thursday, NASA’s satellite mission to investigate air quality, ocean health, and the consequences of climate change for the benefit of humanity successfully launched into space. NASA Unveils New Climate Mission to Examine Atmosphere and Ocean

The Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, Ocean Ecosystem satellite, or PACE, was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket using Space Launch Complex 40. About five minutes after launch, NASA verified that the satellite had received a signal, and the spacecraft was operating as planned.

Congratulation to the PACE team for a launch that was successful. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated, “PACE will help us learn, like never before, how particles in our atmosphere and our oceans can identify key factors impacting global warming.” PACE is the newest member of NASA’s series of Earth-observing satellites. Missions like as this one help us address pressing concerns about our changing climate and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate agenda.

The PACE mission will investigate the effects of small, frequently undetectable objects from hundreds of miles above Earth, such as microscopic particles in the atmosphere and microscopic life in water.

Researchers will be able to assess oceans and other waterbodies throughout a range of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light thanks to the satellite’s hyperspectral ocean colour instrument. This will make it possible for researchers to monitor the phytoplankton’s dispersion and, for the first time, determine which communities of these organisms are present on a daily, global scale from space. The information can be used by scientists and managers of coastal resources to anticipate fishery health, monitor dangerous algal blooms, and spot changes in the marine environment.

Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 and Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration are the other two polarimeter instruments carried by the spaceship. These will pick up new data on atmospheric aerosols, cloud characteristics, and local, regional, and global air quality, as well as how sunlight interacts with atmospheric particles.

PACE will offer insights into the interactions between the ocean and atmosphere and how a changing climate influences these interactions through the use of both the instrument and the polarimeters.

According to Karen St. Germain, chief of the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, “observations and scientific research from PACE will profoundly advance our knowledge of the ocean’s role in the climate cycle.” We are entering a new era of ocean science when we combine the science and data from our Surface Water and Ocean Topography programmed with the enormous value of PACE data. PACE, an open-source science mission with early adopters eager to use its research and data, will contribute to NASA’s delivery of useful science, data, and applications that will help our coastal communities and industries meet rapidly changing challenges. It will also accelerate our understanding of the Earth system.

Marjorie Haskell, a PACE programmed executive at NASA Headquarters, said, “It’s been an honor to work with the PACE team and witness firsthand their dedication and tenacity in overcoming challenges, including the global pandemic, to make this observatory a reality.” “The enthusiasm of the scientific community for the data this new satellite will provide only surpasses the passion and teamwork.”

Sea levels are rising, there are marine heat waves, and there is a decline in biodiversity as a result of climate change in the world’s oceans. PACE will allow scientists to examine how phytoplankton, which is essential to the global carbon cycle because it takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transforms it into its cellular material, is affected by climate change. Larger aquatic and planetary ecosystems that supply vital resources for food security, leisure, and the economy are powered by these microscopic species. NASA Unveils New Climate Mission to Examine Atmosphere and Ocean.

It’s thrilling to see this mission come to pass and to see it launched after 20 years of planning. At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, Jeremy Werdell, the PACE project scientist, expressed his gratitude and pride in his team. “PACE presents a plethora of intriguing options to leverage these amazing technologies in ways we hadn’t yet imagined. It is genuinely a mission of exploration.

NASA Unveils New Climate Mission to Examine Atmosphere and Ocean launch services were overseen by NASA’s Launch Services Programmed, which is housed at the agency’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. NASA Goddard, which also constructed and tested the spacecraft and the ocean color equipment, is in charge of overseeing the PACE project. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County created and constructed the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2, while a consortium lead by the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Airbus Defense, and Space Netherlands developed and constructed the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration. NASA Unveils New Climate Mission to Examine Atmosphere and Ocean

For more information on PACE, visit.