NASA readies PREFIRE mission to study Earth's polar region, check details

NASA is all set to launch its new mission called PREFIRE which contains two shoe-box sized climate satellites to study Earth's remote regions, i.e., the Arctic and Antarctic

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is ready with its new mission called Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE). The space agency will launch the twin shoebox-sized cubesats separately into near-polar orbits to study how heat is lost to space from the remote regions on Earth – the Arctic and Antarctic. 

One of the PREFIRE CubeSats, called "Ready, Aim, PREFIRE" is expected to launch no earlier than May 22, Space.com says. The second satellite, known as "PREFIRE and ICE," will launch a few days after the first.

The pair is designed to measure far-infrared radiation whose wavelengths are longer than 15 microns. This radiation accounts for about 60 per cent of the heat lost at the poles. The PREFIRE principal investigator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Tristan L'Ecuyer said, "We've never measured that before," during a May 15 call with reporters. L'Ecuyer says PREFIRE will assist scientists in studying how different properties at the poles, like clouds, humidity and the surface fluctuations between frozen and liquid states, contribute to the heat dissipation lost to space. 

 

PREFIRE mission: Here’s all you need to know

As per America's space agency, the CubeSats will investigate the heat amount radiated from Earth's polar region into space and how this heat affects our climate.

The CubeSats will use a thermal infrared spectrometer for the purpose of heat measurement in the form of far-infrared energy, radiated into space by Earth's surface and atmosphere. 

The CubeSates are prepared to answer some critical questions using a platform that costs lower than full-size satellites.

The PREFIRE mission data will assist the scientists in understanding the greenhouse effect at the poles specifically. It will investigate the capacity of water vapour, clouds and other elements in the atmosphere to trap heat and prevent it from radiating into space. 

According to NASA, the data will be used to update climate and ice models and ultimately improve predictions of how sea level, weather, snow and ice cover are likely to change in a warming world.