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Saturday, the trip Sentinel-6 satellite Michael Freilich has started.
The world’s largest Earth observation satellite lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 12:17 p.m. east of Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
In just a few months, the satellite will begin collecting data on sea level rise here on Earth, giving scientists a big picture of one of the most difficult effects of climate change to measure.
After launching into orbit, the satellite separated from the rocket and deployed its solar panels in a truly stunning display.
See the launch video here:
Once in the air, Sentinel-6 sent a signal to ground control confirming that the spacecraft is healthy and ready to begin a series of last minute checks and calibrations. Once these are completed, the spaceship 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 worrying trend – The main objective of the mission is to collect data on global sea level and map the effects of climate change on the Earth’s oceans. The mission will last five and a half years.
As global temperatures rise, the melting of glaciers and ice caps has combined with thermal expansion of seawater to raise sea levels at an alarming rate. Since 1880, the global average sea level has risen by about 8 to 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 affect sea levels around the world, but the impact on local communities varies widely. International collaboration is essential both to understand 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 brings an unprecedented level of precision to this effort.
A new era – The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission includes two identical satellites, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B, which will be launched five years apart and provide scientists with data until at least 2030.
Unlike previous Earth observation missions, the Sentinel-6 observatory will collect measurements at a much higher resolution and be able to trace smaller variations in sea level near the coast.
It does this by using an altimetric radar 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 returned from the sea surface generates a waveform that reveals in real time the height of the sea surface and waves, as well as the wind speed at the surface of the roughness of the l ‘ocean.
All of these actions support ocean forecasting, essential for the sustainable management of ocean resources, coastal management and environmental protection, and the fishing industry.
“The data from this satellite, so critical for climate monitoring and weather forecasting, will be of unprecedented precision,” said Alain Ratier, director general of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, in a statement. communicated.
“These data, which can only be obtained by measurements from space, will bring a wide range of benefits to people around the world, from safer sea voyages to more accurate prediction of the trajectory of hurricanes,” from a better understanding of sea level rise to a more precise seasonality. weather forecasts, and much more. “
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