NASA’s new mission will observe the ‘invisible universe’ in Earth’s oceans and sky

(CNN) — A revolutionary new satellite that will provide an unprecedented view of Earth’s microscopic marine life and tiny atmospheric particles is ready for launch.

NASA’s PACE mission, or Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and Ocean Ecosystems, will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Force Station off Cape Canaveral, Florida, this Thursday at 1:33 a.m. ET. The launch will be live streamed on NASA’s website and YouTube channel.

Currently, weather conditions are 95% favorable for the launch. The launch, which was initially scheduled for this Tuesday morning, was delayed twice due to poor weather conditions at the launch site.

Scientists began imagining a way to better understand how ocean and atmospheric processes shape the planet about 20 years ago, said Jeremy Werdell, a PACE project scientist.

The mission will shed light on how aerosols and clouds, as well as phytoplankton in the ocean, serve as indicators of ocean health and global warming. Director Karen St. Germain said the three instruments aboard PACE, including two polarimeters and a camera, will capture a rainbow of data at different wavelengths of light, which “will allow us to see things we’ve never seen before.” Have been able to see.” NASA Earth Sciences Division.

“What we’re doing here with PACE is really exploring the microscopic universe, which is mostly invisible, in the ocean and the sky and to some extent on Earth,” said Werdell.

Although PACE is designed as a three-year mission, PACE has enough fuel to continue orbiting and studying Earth for up to 10 years. The spacecraft will join a fleet of more than two dozen NASA ground science missions orbiting our planet and will collect data on the oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to provide more information about how Earth’s climate is changing .

Together, missions like PACE and the International Surface Water and Ocean Topography Mission, known as SWOT, launching in 2022, could also change the way researchers understand Earth’s oceans.

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said, “It is undeniable that we are in the midst of a climate crisis.” “Our planet is experiencing transformative changes from increased extreme weather events and devastating wildfires to rising sea levels. NASA is not just a space and aeronautics agency. We are a climate agency. We take advantage of the unique vantage point of space to collect important Earth science data, studying our home as a whole planet. This information will then be available to people around the world, empowering them to make informed decisions about protecting our planet and its inhabitants for future generations.

aerial eyes in earth’s sky

In January, NASA and other agencies announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record, part of an overall trend in which global temperatures have increased over the past decade, said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor. .

The main cause of warming is greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. After being released, the carbon dioxide is absorbed by land and oceans, but some remains in the atmosphere and traps greenhouse gases that warm the planet.

NASA’s PACE spacecraft is seen atop a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Feb. 5. (Credit: SpaceX)

“One of the best things about a mission like PACE is that it will allow us to better understand the exchange of carbon between the ocean and the atmosphere,” Kelvin said.

But other factors contribute to warming, including aerosol particles in the atmosphere made up of pollutants, dust, smoke and sea salt. Aerosols can reflect or absorb sunlight and affect cloud formation, Kelvin said.

Aerosols play a tremendous role in Earth’s weather, air quality and climate, St. Germain said.

“They come from sources like dust from Saharan wildfires and even human activities,” St. Germain said. “They produce clouds that can become storms as they cross the Atlantic, but they also reflect most of the sun’s energy. “Therefore, they will play an important role in the long-term stability of Earth’s climate.”

Aerosols can contribute to poor air quality that causes chronic diseases like asthma, and understanding the composition of aerosols and their location in the atmosphere can help determine polluted air hotspots and provide better warnings, Andy said. . Sawyer, PACE atmospheric scientist.

PACE’s two polarimeter instruments will help scientists study particle size, composition and aerosol amounts in Earth’s atmosphere at different wavelengths to provide scientists a detailed picture of the most problematic areas.

Mapping microscopic life from space

About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, and these vast stores of water often present more questions than answers, but scientists hope PACE can help change that.

“In many ways, we know more about the moon’s surface than its oceans,” St. Germain said. “PACE will be the most advanced mission we have ever launched to study ocean biology. “It will teach us about the oceans the same way the Web teaches us about the universe.”

From orbit, PACE will look for light reflected by tiny organisms called phytoplankton to see where they float on the surface of Earth’s oceans. The mission has the Ocean Color tool. It will use more than 100 different wavelengths of light to study phytoplankton on a global scale and identify different species, including those that pose a threat to other life forms, from space for the first time.

The waters off the coast of Alaska typically come alive with attractive phytoplankton blooms each year, causing blue and green seawater patterns, as seen by the Landsat 8 satellite in June 2018. (Credit: Norman Kuring/Ocean Color NASA website/US Geological Survey Landsat data)

Phytoplankton exists at the base of the marine food web. According to NASA, without the tiny creatures, that network would collapse and the depletion of global fisheries could be devastating to humans.

These microscopic algae use photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide and sunlight, producing oxygen and carbohydrates that nourish all types of marine life. According to NASA, phytoplankton began photosynthesis more than 3 billion years ago, long before trees and plants, and contribute about 50% of all the oxygen produced on Earth.

While phytoplankton play an important role in removing carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere, some species can also be harmful. Algal blooms can be important to marine food webs like in polar regions, but some blooms produce dangerous toxins that can spoil drinking water and disrupt entire ecosystems. PACE observations can help scientists understand which species cause toxic blooms, track and monitor them over time, and determine how to prevent them in the future.

“I like to say that PACE is a mission that will use that unique view of space to study the smallest things that have the biggest impact on the oceans,” St. Germain said.