{"id":10103,"date":"2024-05-24T21:48:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T13:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-launches-first-of-nasas-climate-monitoring-prefire-spacecraft\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T21:48:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T13:48:45","slug":"rocket-lab-launches-first-of-nasas-climate-monitoring-prefire-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-launches-first-of-nasas-climate-monitoring-prefire-spacecraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab launches first of NASA\u2019s climate-monitoring PREFIRE spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_66243\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66243\" style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66243\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_artist_rendering.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_artist_rendering.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_artist_rendering-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_artist_rendering-678x381.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_artist_rendering-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_artist_rendering-1536x864.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66243\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The PREFIRE mission will launch the first of two CubeSats \u2013 depicted in this artist\u2019s concept orbiting Earth \u2013 into space on Saturday, May 25, 2024, to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions. These measurements will inform climate and ice models. Graphic: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>Update 4:36 a.m. EDT: Rocket Lab confirms a successful deployment of NASA\u2019s PREFIRE-1 cubesat.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Update 3:52 a.m. EDT: Liftoff occurred at 3:41 a.m. EDT. Good first and second stage burns. Kick stage ignition <\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Update 3:30 a.m. EDT: Countdown resumed for a new T-0 of 3:41 a.m. EDT.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Update 3:20 a.m. EDT: Countdown holding due to high ground winds.<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Update 10:44 p.m. EDT: Rocket Lab set the T-0 liftoff time for the mission.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>NASA is preparing to launch a pair of climate research missions within weeks of each other. The two spacecraft share the name PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment) and are designed to study how much heat is absorbed and emited from Earth\u2019s polar regions, the space agency said.<\/p>\n<p>The first spacecraft, PREFIRE-1, is set to liftoff on May 25 onboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket at 7:28 p.m. NZST (3:28 a.m. EDT, 0728 UTC). A specific date and time for the second mission has yet to be announced.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m7nYAJ4dZP4\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking for new insights into how Earth\u2019s atmosphere and ice influence how much heat the polar regions lose into space,\u201d said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA\u2019s Earth Science Division, in a prelaunch teleconference. \u201cThis is new information and we\u2019ve never had it before. We\u2019ll improve our ability to model what\u2019s happening in the poles, what\u2019s happening in climate, and ultimately, our ability to predict everything from weather to climate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is important to our strategy of providing Earth science that is actionable and can inform decisions for communities around the world on how to respond and adapt to changing environmental conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66244\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66244\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66244\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom_2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom_2.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom_2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom_2-678x452.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom_2-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66244\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The PREFIRE-1 CubeSat is integrated onto part of Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron rocket in a clean room prior to launch. Image: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>St. Germain also noted that by using a pair of CubeSats, instead of larger spacecraft, NASA is exploring ways to create more targeted and agile missions in the future that may not require as much lead time or expense.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the cost and logistics benefit, Tristan L\u2019Ecuyer, the PREFIRE principal investigator from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said placing the twin craft in slightly different orbits will be critical in the science data they\u2019re looking to gather.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving one CubeSat, we\u2019ll be able to sort of map out what the emissions look like in the polar regions, but having a second CubeSat that flies over then, about six hours later, we\u2019ll be able to understand how changes, something like melting of the ice sheet or a cloud forming or an increase in the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, how that affects the emission between the two different CubeSats,\u201d L\u2019Ecuyer said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we\u2019ll be using the two CubeSats to make measurements over the course of several hours apart, taking the difference between those measurements and trying to understand how the processes that are occurring in the Arctic are actually affecting the emission from the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary White, the PREFIRE project manager, said each spacecraft is roughly the size of a large shoebox and will be launched into asynchronous, near-polar orbits. To measure the changes mentioned by L\u2019Ecuyer, the spacecraft feature an instrument called a \u201cthermal infrared spectrometer,\u201d which has been flown in larger configurations by both aircraft and spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough it\u2019s a developing technology, these thermopile detectors, we\u2019re flying more pixels on each detector than had been previously flown,\u201d White explained. \u201cWe have an array of eight pixels in the spatial direction by 64 pixels in the spectral direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66245\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66245\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66245\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom-1.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom-1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom-1-678x452.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/20240520_PREFIRE_cleanroom-1-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66245\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The PREFIRE-1 CubeSat is integrated onto part of Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron rocket in a clean room prior to launch. Image: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>About an hour and a half after launch, PREFIRE-1 will open up its solar panels to start powering up its batteries. Those on the ground will try to establish communication with it via a ground station about five hours after launch.<\/p>\n<p>White said the spacecraft needs about five days for checkouts before controllers are ready to turn on its main instrument. At that point, they\u2019ll need another roughly five days to checkout the instrument itself. However, White said they budgeted a month for this process, on the off-chance that they need more time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe might get into a little bit of calibration in the second half of that month, but we\u2019ll be bringing down data from the instrument, kind of preliminary data, starting probably about five or six days into the mission,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n<p>L\u2019Ecuyer added that it will also take some time to sort through the preliminary data to make it make sense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut at the end of a couple of months, we do hope to be able to have new observations of what the clouds look like in the Arctic, what the surface characteristics look like, whether the ice sheet is melting or refreezing and then also information about moisture in the Arctic,\u201d L\u2019Ecuyer said. \u201c[It\u2019s] very hard to measure from the ground because it\u2019s also very inhospitable there, but also very difficult to measure using any other existing satellites.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two PREFIRE missions will also mark the 48th and 49th launches for Rocket Lab using its Electron rocket. The satellites will deploy to a 525 km circular Earth orbit at a 97.5\u00b0 inclination.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab announced it received the mission through NASA\u2019s VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract in August 2023. According to a NASA presentation, the mission is cost-capped at $32.78 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re tremendously excited and obviously, to launch these two missions and also to ensure that the spacecraft arrive, both of them arrive safely in orbit,\u201d said Peter Beck, the CEO and founder of Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The PREFIRE mission will launch the first of two CubeSats \u2013 depicted in this artist\u2019s concept orbiting Earth \u2013 into space on Saturday, May 25, 2024, to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions. These measurements will inform climate and ice models. Graphic: NASA\/JPL-Caltech Update 4:36 a.m. EDT: Rocket [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[545,190,1377,544,1378],"class_list":["post-10103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-electron","tag-nasa","tag-prefire","tag-rocket-lab","tag-vadr"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}