WASHINGTON, May 13, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- NASA is hosting a media call at 3 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May
15, to discuss the agency's PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in
the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission, which aims to improve life on
Earth by studying heat loss from Earth's polar regions and provide
information on our changing climate.
The first of two shoebox-sized satellites is targeted to launch
aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket no earlier than Wednesday, May 22. The launch date for the second
satellite will be announced shortly after the launch of the first
satellite.
Earth absorbs a lot of energy from the Sun at the tropics.
Weather and ocean currents move that heat energy toward the poles,
where the heat radiates upward into space. Much of that heat is in
far-infrared wavelengths and has never been systematically
measured. The data from PREFIRE will address this knowledge gap for
the benefit of all by improving predictions of climate change and
sea level rise.
The audio-only teleconference streamed live on the agency's
website.
Participants include:
- Karen St. Germain, director,
Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Mary White, project manager,
PREFIRE, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California
- Tristan L'Ecuyer, principal investigator, PREFIRE, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Peter Beck, CEO and founder,
Rocket Lab
To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two
hours before the start of the call, to Elizabeth Vlock at:
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov.
For more information about NASA's PREFIRE mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/prefire
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SOURCE NASA