SpaceX will launch the Sentinel-6 ocean mapping satellite on Saturday. Watch it live!
People who live in coastal communities or navigate treacherous waters will benefit from the data flowing from the new waters 6 goalkeeper Michael Freilich Satellite mission.
The satellite is expected to launch on Saturday (Nov. 21) at 12:17 pm EST (9:17 a.m. local time and 1717 GMT) Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, On a five-year mission to map sea rise associated with global warming. Sentinel-6 will be launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 missile. You can Watch it live here On Space.com, Courtesy of NASA TV.
The weather is 80%, go to the main launch opportunity on Saturday and a reserve launch time on Sunday at 12:04 PM EST (9:04 AM local time and 1704 GMT). NASA held two informational sessions on Friday to discuss the impact of the new mission on existing maps and models.
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Sentinel-6 will not be represented separately in products from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), but it will strengthen models, maps, NOAA and other partners in the mission it is already producing to keep the world’s population safe from intensifying hurricanes, the representatives said.
Sentinel-6 notes will be included in such as sea wave forecast (easy to ship products across the ocean) and tropical storm forecast, to quickly evacuate coastal residents if the need arises.
Once Sentinel-6 has completed its one-year mandate, anyone around the world – including teachers, students, and other members of the public – can download the initial data From the site European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumtsat).
For researchers looking to improve their climate models, Sentinel-6’s work will easily combine with other scientific missions. For example, the altimetry collected from Sentinel-6 can be combined with Earth’s gravitational measurements from NASA. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Satellites (GRACE).
This combination of measurements will show how much sea level rise is caused by melting ice sheets, and how much sea level rise is caused by the expansion of the oceans due to the general warming of the oceans, Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Division of Earth Sciences, said in brief. Focus on returning the flag to the expedition.
Related: Melting of ice sheets will add 15 inches to global sea level rise by 2100
“Since 70% of the Earth’s surface is oceans, the oceans play an important role in how the entire system functions [of global warming] “These global changes create risks and opportunities for our human societies,” she said.
Josh Willis, a Sentinel-6 project scientist at NASA, said the benefits from the Sentinel-6 data will flow to nearly every sector affected by climate change, given that 90% of the heat trapped by human-emitted greenhouse gases ends up in the ocean. Jet Propulsion Laboratory at scientific briefing.
“We are watching sea level rise right in front of our eyes, and it’s satellites like this that allow us to do that,” Willis said. He noted that the rate of sea level rise is accelerating, making it imperative to add high-resolution data from Sentinel-6 to existing satellite altimeters. Today’s sea level rise is approaching 5 millimeters per year, more than twice the annual rate of rise drawn in the 1990s.
The complexity of expectations is that sea level rise is not proceeding at the same rate around the world. Craig Donlon, a Sentinel-6 project scientist at the European Space Agency, said in the same briefing that large cities like New York City and Amsterdam are particularly vulnerable to water causing floods among their residents. Even worse, he added, for every centimeter of sea level rise, up to three million other people around the world are exposed to flood risks.
“The earth is warming, and the biggest indicator is sea level rise,” Donlon said. While space satellites have been tracking this in detail for 30 years, the roots of this problem begin in the Industrial Revolution, when nations began burning huge reserves of carbon through coal, oil and other natural resources to power their economies.
As scientists look to accurate results from Sentinel-6, launch teams are working to stay safe amid the latest pandemic protocols such as checking temperature while entering buildings, and physical distance between workers and quarantines after travel.
“There are things worse than being trapped on the California coast,” Tim Dunn, launch director for NASA’s Launch Services Program, said during Friday’s press conference, jokingly. He said that while the team cannot dine in restaurants as usual, they still do team building activities such as outdoor patio meetings and shared exercises, as well as outdoors.
Morale remains high among the group and Dunn said he is proud of all the adjustments that his colleagues are making. “It is good to meet with the team, and to know the importance of what we are doing,” he said. “It energizes us and gives us the energy to continue moving forward.”
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