[U: May 25] The University of Wisconsin, Partnering With NASA's JPL -- Nearing A New Zealand Launch Date, For Twin Shoebox-Sized PREFIRE Polar Cap Monitoring Satellites...

These two cute lil' satellites will soon be studying the most remote regions on Earth: the Arctic and Antarctic. [Updated: new launch date: May 25, 2024.] This partnership between US university science departments, and the New Zealand launch partner, along with, of course. . . NASA's JPL, will measure the amount of heat the planet emits into space from these polar regions — information that’s key to understanding the balance of energy coming into and out of Earth and how that affects the planet’s climate.

Without any more ado -- do go read the whole mission synopsis -- here, from the Wisco Badger site, and/or the NASA Jet Propulsion Labs presser -- and a bit:

. . .Just beyond the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum sits the infrared, a spectrum of longer-wavelength light that can be sensed as heat. Essentially all of Earth’s heat emissions happen at infrared wavelengths between 4 and 100 micrometers. At the planet’s cold polar regions, 60% of the heat emissions occur at far-infrared wavelengths (longer than 15 micrometers). Researchers have relatively little data on which parts of the Arctic and Antarctic are shedding this heat. PREFIRE will help address this lack of knowledge, giving scientists a better idea of how efficiently far-infrared heat is emitted by things like snow and sea ice, and how clouds influence the amount of far-infrared radiation that escapes to space. . . .

The CubeSats will gather data over the poles using sensors that are sensitive to 10 times more infrared wavelengths than any similar instrument. Information gathered by the mission will advance our understanding of when and where the poles shed heat into space, as well as why the Arctic has warmed more than 2½ times faster than the rest of the planet since the 1970s. . . .

NASA developed PREFIRE with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, including team members from the universities of Michigan and Colorado. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages PREFIRE for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate and provided the spectrometers. Blue Canyon Technologies built the CubeSats and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will process the data the instruments collect. The launch services provider, Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California, will launch both PREFIRE CubeSats from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. . . .

Onward on a perfect Spring Sunday. . . at mid 70s. . . and fluffy clouds overhead. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते