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Trip Saturday of the Sentinel-6 satellite Michael Freilich has begun.
The largest Earth observation satellite took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 12:17 pm Eastern from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
In a few months, the satellite will begin collecting data on sea level rise here on Earth, giving scientists a bird’s eye view of one of the most difficult to measure effects of climate change.
After being launched into orbit, the satellite separated from the rocket and spread its solar panels into a truly stunning display.
Watch the launch video here:
Once in the air, Sentinel-6 sent a signal to ground control confirming that the spacecraft is in good health and ready to begin a series of last-minute checks and calibrations. After these are completed, the spacecraft will begin its real mission.
Sentinel-6 is a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A disturbing trend – The mission’s primary goal is to collect data on global sea levels and track the effects of climate change on Earth’s oceans. The mission will last for a period of five and a half years.
As global temperatures rise, melting glaciers and ice sheets have combined with the thermal expansion of seawater to raise sea levels at an alarming rate. Since the 1880s, the global mean sea level has risen by about 8-9 inches, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The Earth is changing and this satellite will help us deepen our understanding of how,” Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Division of Earth Sciences, said in a statement.
“Earth’s changing processes are affecting sea level globally, but the impact on local communities varies greatly. International collaboration is critical both to understanding these changes and to inform coastal communities around the world.”
Sentinel-6 builds on the legacy of ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission. First launched in 2014, it remains the most ambitious Earth observation program to date.
Space agencies have played a crucial role in documenting the effects of changing global temperatures on our planet for years. Sentinel-6 offers an unprecedented level of precision to this endeavor.
A new era – The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission includes two identical satellites, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B, which will launch five years apart and provide scientists with data up to at least the year 2030.
Unlike previous Earth observation missions, the Sentinel-6 observatory will collect measurements at a much higher resolution and will be able to track smaller changes in sea level near the coast.
The way it does this is through a radar altimeter instrument, which calculates the distance between the satellite and the Earth by measuring the time it takes for a transmitted radar pulse to reflect the Earth’s surface. The echo pulse returning from the sea surface generates a waveform that reveals the height of the sea surface and waves, as well as the speed of the surface wind from the roughness of the ocean, in real time.
All these measures support ocean forecasts, which are critical for sustainable ocean resource management, coastal management and environmental protection, as well as for the fishing industry.
“The data from this satellite, which is so crucial for climate monitoring and weather forecasting, will be of unprecedented accuracy,” Alain Ratier, director general of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, said in a statement.
“This data, which can only be obtained from measurements from space, will bring a wide range of benefits to people around the world, from safer ocean voyages to more accurate predictions of hurricane paths, a greater understanding of level rise. of the sea to a more accurate seasonality weather forecast and much more “.
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