NASA's upcoming PACE mission to unravel mysteries about clouds, aerosols

NASA's upcoming PACE mission will offer important insights on aerosols - airborne particles of sea salt, smoke, human-made pollutants, and dust by observing how they interact with light.

Short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, the PACE mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than February 6, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The new global insights offered by the mission will help scientists answer questions about how our oceans and atmosphere interact in a changing climate.

The primary science instrument onboard the satellite will be the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) - a hyperspectral scanning radiometer capable of measuring the color of the ocean from ultraviolet to shortwave infrared. The instrument will observe more than 100 different wavelengths, making it the first scientific satellite to do so daily on a global scale.

The spacecraft will also carry two cutting-edge polarimeters - the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone) and the Hyper Angular Research Polarimeter (HARP2) - to study the clouds and aerosols above the oceans.

The two polarimeters make a great pair because of the complementary differences in what they measure. HARP2 will observe four wavelengths of light from up to 60 different angles whereas SPEXone will peer down at a narrower swath, using five viewing angles but looking at light at hyperspectral resolution. Together, they will offer a picture of Earth's atmosphere in unprecedented detail.

Get a closer look at our newest Earth-observing satellite mission, PACE, which will examine microscopic organisms and particles in our oceans and clouds: https://t.co/BazFgP8uIMSet to launch Feb. 6, PACE will help scientists understand more about our changing climate. pic.twitter.com/o5Rof3pyJ9

— NASA (@NASA) January 16, 2024

NASA will host a media teleconference on Wednesday, January 17, to discuss the upcoming launch and its science objectives.