NASA Successfully Launches PACE Satellite Mission to Study Ocean Health and Climate Change Effects
In a groundbreaking achievement, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission was successfully launched into orbit at 1:33 a.m. EST on Thursday. The mission aims to study ocean health, air quality, and the effects of a changing climate for the benefit of humanity. The satellite, named PACE, was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA confirmed signal acquisition from the satellite about five minutes after launch, and the spacecraft is performing as expected.
The launch of PACE marks a significant milestone in NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites. The mission will provide valuable insights into how particles in our atmosphere and oceans contribute to global warming. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed his congratulations to the PACE team, highlighting the mission’s importance in addressing urgent questions about our changing climate and supporting the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate agenda.
From its vantage point hundreds of miles above Earth, the PACE mission will focus on studying the impact of microscopic life in water and microscopic particles in the air. The satellite’s hyperspectral ocean color instrument will enable researchers to measure oceans and other water bodies across a spectrum of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. This breakthrough technology will allow scientists to track the distribution of phytoplankton and identify different communities of these organisms on a daily, global scale for the first time from space. The data collected will be instrumental in forecasting the health of fisheries, monitoring harmful algal blooms, and detecting changes in the marine environment.
Additionally, the PACE spacecraft carries two polarimeter instruments: Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 and Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration. These instruments will provide new information on atmospheric aerosols, cloud properties, and air quality at local, regional, and global scales by studying how sunlight interacts with particles in the atmosphere. By combining data from these instruments with the hyperspectral ocean color instrument, PACE will offer valuable insights into the interactions between the ocean and atmosphere, shedding light on how a changing climate affects these interactions.
Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters, emphasized the significance of PACE’s observations and scientific research in advancing our understanding of the ocean’s role in the climate cycle. She highlighted the value of combining PACE data with data from NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, which will usher in a new era of ocean science. With early adopters ready to utilize PACE’s research and data, the mission will accelerate our understanding of the Earth system and provide actionable science to help coastal communities and industries address evolving challenges.
Marjorie Haskell, PACE program executive at NASA Headquarters, expressed her admiration for the dedication and tenacity of the PACE team in overcoming challenges, including the global pandemic, to make this observatory a reality. She emphasized the excitement within the science community for the data that this new satellite will provide.
The effects of climate change on Earth’s oceans are far-reaching, from sea level rise to marine heatwaves to a loss of biodiversity. With PACE, researchers will be able to study how climate change impacts phytoplankton, which play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These tiny organisms drive larger aquatic and global ecosystems that provide essential resources for food security, recreation, and the economy.
Jeremy Werdell, PACE project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, expressed his exhilaration at witnessing the launch of a mission he had been thinking about for 20 years. He commended the PACE team for their passion and teamwork and highlighted the incredible opportunities that PACE will offer in terms of scientific discovery. The mission’s technologies will be utilized in ways that have yet to be anticipated, opening up a new frontier of exploration.
The launch services for the PACE mission were managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center managed the mission itself, including the construction and testing of the spacecraft and the ocean color instrument. The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 was designed and built by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, while the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration was developed and built by a Dutch consortium led by the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Airbus Defence, and Space Netherlands.
The successful launch of the PACE satellite mission marks a significant milestone in our understanding of ocean health, air quality, and the effects of climate change. With its advanced instruments and groundbreaking technology, PACE will provide invaluable data that will help scientists, coastal resource managers, and policymakers address the challenges posed by a changing climate. As we embark on this new era of ocean science, PACE promises to deliver actionable science, data, and practical applications to