NASA intends to launch a revolutionary satellite this Tuesday that will allow it to analyze the Earth’s “vital signs” and achieve a better understanding of the health of the planet, especially the oceans and atmosphere.
The takeoff of the PACE satellite, which will be aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, was scheduled for 01:33 am (07:33 am in Luxembourg) from Cape Canaveral, in central Florida.
NASA oceanographer Violeta Sanjuan explained this Monday to the Efe agency that PACE will be placed in an orbit further away than the International Space Station (ISS), around 677 kilometers from Earth.
The Spanish scientist highlighted that this is a revolutionary satellite because it will provide details of the ocean, especially microalgae (phytoplankton), that had never been achieved before.
Phytoplankton – he explains – represents only 1% of the planet’s total plant mass (including terrestrial), but even so it “generates 50% to 60% of the oxygen” that is available on the planet.
“It is highly efficient in capturing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, much more than terrestrial plants”, he emphasized.
The PACE mission, an acronym in English for Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds and Ocean Ecosystems, is unique because in addition to analyzing phytoplankton in detail, it does so from the point of view of its interaction with aerosols and substances suspended in the air. “This will give incredible insight that we haven’t had until now, of how our oceans behave, what the atmosphere is like and how they both interact and regulate our climate”, highlighted Sanjuan.
Data volume
The satellite is made up of three instruments, one of which is a sensor that can identify up to 256 colors in the ocean, while previous tools could only differentiate less than ten shades, he further detailed. “The amount of data volume is incredible compared to what we had before”, highlighted the scientist.
The importance of determining these shades is due to the fact that the color of phytoplankton varies according to its species.
This organism is very important, not only because it is the base of the food chain and the origin of life, but because of its importance for climate change, added Sanjuan. “Knowing the health of our oceans is essential, as they are the lungs of our planet”, emphasized the oceanographer for the PACE mission at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt (Maryland).
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Sanjuan recalled that the ocean represents 70% of the Earth’s surface and that only around 5% has been studied. In this sense, he highlights that PACE is a “technological leap” that will allow major advances in its three-year useful life.
Sanjuan also highlighted that the satellite will have fuel for ten years and hopes that it will survive longer than the three that the North American space agency granted to its mission.
The Spanish company specified that the satellite will fly in an orbit that moves with the Earth and that there may be certain regions of the planet with a repetition of between one and two days, which helps to observe changes in the oceans and study the evolution of these species of phytoplankton .
This information is crucial “for climate change, for the carbon cycle and for the life of the planet”, he pointed out.
The PACE mission, costing 946 million dollars, joins a fleet of twenty satellites that monitor various Earth parameters.
2024-02-07 11:55:41
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