The first of NASA’s climate satellites, designed to study heat emissions at Earth’s poles, successfully launched atop Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand at 7:41 p.m. NZST (3:41 a.m. EDT) on Saturday.
The PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission includes two CubeSats that will measure heat radiated from Earth’s polar regions. This data will help researchers predict changes in ice, seas, and weather in a warming world.
Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, highlighted the mission’s importance: “PREFIRE will provide a detailed picture of how Earth’s polar regions influence energy absorption and release, improving predictions of sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise.”
The CubeSats will operate for 10 months after a 30-day checkout period. Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, noted, “PREFIRE CubeSats will close a big gap in our knowledge about Earth’s energy budget, helping us better predict changes due to global warming.”
The mission’s CubeSats carry thermal infrared spectrometers to measure far-infrared wavelengths, crucial for understanding Earth’s energy balance. Principal investigator Tristan L’Ecuyer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison emphasized the mission’s role in improving climate and weather models.
NASA’s Launch Services Program partnered with the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program for the launch, and Rocket Lab USA Inc. provided the launch services. The mission was developed by NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with NASA JPL managing the mission and providing the spectrometers.–Web Desk