A revolutionary new satellite that will provide an unprecedented view of Earth's microscopic marine life and tiny atmospheric particles has been launched.
The NASA PACE mission, or Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and Ocean Ecosystem Mission, took off at 1:33 am on Thursday (8) — 3:33 am Brasília time —, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, from the US Space Force at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The launch, initially scheduled for Tuesday morning (6), was postponed twice due to bad weather conditions at the launch site. But weather conditions were more than 95% favorable for launch on Thursday morning.
Scientists began devising a way to better understand how oceanic and atmospheric processes shape the planet about 20 years ago, said PACE project scientist Jeremy Werdell. 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.
The three instruments aboard PACE, including two polarimeters and a camera, will capture a rainbow of data in different wavelengths of light that “allows us to see things we've never been able to see before,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA's Earth Sciences Division.
“What we're doing here with PACE is really searching for the microscopic universe, mostly invisible, in the sea and in the sky, and to some degrees, on land as well,” Werdell said.
Although 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 Earth science missions circling our planet, collecting data on oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to provide more insights into how Earth's climate is changing.
Together, missions like PACE and the international Ocean and Surface Water Topography mission, known as SWOT, launching in 2022, could also change the way researchers understand Earth's oceans.
“We are indisputably in the midst of a climate crisis,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Our planet is undergoing transformative changes, from the increase in 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 study our home as a holistic planet, collecting vital Earth science data. This information is then available to people around the world, empowering them to make informed decisions about how to protect our planet and its inhabitants for future generations.”
Aerial eyes in Earth's skies
In January, NASA and other agencies announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record, part of a general trend in which global temperatures have risen over the past decade, said Kate Calvin, NASA's chief scientist and senior climate adviser.
Warming is largely driven by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. After being released, carbon dioxide is absorbed by the land and oceans, but some of it remains in the atmosphere and traps greenhouse gases that warm the planet.
“One of the great things about a mission like PACE is that it will give us a better understanding of the exchange of carbon between the ocean and the atmosphere,” Calvin said. But other factors contribute to warming, including aerosol particles in the atmosphere that are collectively made of pollutants, dust, smoke and sea salt.
Aerosols can reflect or absorb sunlight and affect cloud formation, Calvin added.
Aerosols play a tremendous role in Earth's climate, air quality and climate, St. Germain said. “They come from sources like dust blown in from the Sahara, wildfires and even human activities,” St. Germain said.
“They seed clouds that can turn into hurricanes coming in from the Atlantic, but they also reflect a lot of energy from the sun. Therefore, they play an important role in the long-term stability of Earth’s climate,” she explained.
Aerosols can contribute to poor air quality that causes chronic conditions like asthma, and understanding the composition of aerosols and their location in the atmosphere can help determine hotspots for polluted air and provide better warnings, said Andy Sayer, an atmospheric scientist at the PACE.
The two polarimeter instruments on PACE will help scientists study the particle size, composition and quantity of aerosols in Earth's atmosphere at a range of wavelengths to provide a detailed picture of the most problematic areas.
Mapping microscopic life from space
About 70% of Earth's surface is covered by oceans, and these massive bodies of water often present more questions than answers — but scientists hope PACE can help change that.
“In many ways, we know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about our own 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 in the same way that Webb is teaching us about the cosmos.”
From space, PACE will look for the reflected light from tiny organisms called phytoplankton to see where they thrive floating on the surface of Earth's oceans.
The mission carries the Ocean Color Instrument. It will use more than 100 different wavelengths of light to study phytoplankton on a global scale and identify different species, including some that pose a threat to other life forms, from space for the first time.
Phytoplankton exist at the base of the marine food chain. Without the tiny organisms, this web would collapse, and a lack of global fisheries could be devastating for humans, according to NASA.
These microalgae use photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide and sunlight, generating oxygen and carbohydrates that nourish all types of marine life. Phytoplankton began photosynthesizing more than 3 billion years ago, long before trees and plants, and contributed about 50% of all oxygen ever produced on Earth, according to NASA.
Although phytoplankton play an important role in removing carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere, some species can also be harmful. Algal blooms can be critical to marine food webs like those 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 this unique vantage point from space to study the smallest things that have the biggest impact on the oceans,” said St. Germain.
Source: CNN Brasil
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