NASA's first mission to observe all water on Earth arrived at launch site

October 22, 2022 By Alberto Mesti

(Image Credit Google)

Finally delivered to the Californian Vandenberg Space Force Base, NASA's Surface Water, and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite will now undergo final preparations before launching in December atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Center-4 East. This is the first satellite mission by the space agency to measure the depth of the seas, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs on our planet. The majority of the planet's surface water will be observed. SWOT's equipment will be able to discern between oceanic phenomena like currents and eddies that are smaller than 60 miles (100 kilometers) across, lakes and reservoirs that are larger than 15 acres (6 hectares), and rivers that are wider than 330 feet, according to NASA (100 meters). NASA's first mission to observe all water on Earth has arrived at the launch site

NASA's first mission to observe all water on Earth has arrived at the launch site

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built the scientific payload. In June 2021, JPL delivered the payload to France, where a multidisciplinary team put the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (Karin) and other carefully tuned components on the satellite bus. On October 16, SWOT took a U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy from France to Vandenberg before transferring to the Astrotech Space Operations facility to begin the launch preparation procedure. Before sending a satellite into space, teams must carry the satellite to the launch pad, attach it to the rocket, and encase it in a protective payload fairing, according to NASA. The SWOT will collect information from the ocean once it is in orbit to help scientists better understand how seawater absorbs heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which affects global temperatures and climate change. This information will also aid academics in their understanding of coastal sea levels and, most significantly, how the relationship between sea surface height and a changing climate may impact events such as storm surges.

By Alberto Mesti

Introvert. Eccentric at times. A fashion enthusiast, designer and writer. Lives for the drama, hates being at the centre of it. Can be best described as \'wannabe modern day Lady Whistledown\'.

NASA's first mission to observe all water on Earth arrived at launch site

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