PACE-PAX

NASA - What do you give to an ocean that has everything? This year, for National Ocean Month, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite— is gifting us a unique look at our home planet. The visualizations created with data from the satellite, which launched on Feb. 8, are already enhancing the ways that we view our seas and skies.

European Sting - When ERS-2 came spiralling down to Earth in March, it wasn’t just another satellite burning up in the atmosphere. ERS-2 was the last surviving of two satellites scientists reverently call “grandfathers of Earth observation in Europe”.

National Fisherman - For decades, NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration – has provided satellite images of the sea, revealing late winter and autumnal algal blooms in upwelling regions. The data was useful, to a degree, but limited. “We were getting a signal using six or seven colors from the rainbow,” says PACE project scientist Jeremy Werdell. “With the new technology, we are reading 200 different colors of the rainbow.”

news n'ne - A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched the PACE mission in February this year.  After a brief commissioning period, the spacecraft has initiated operations.  The data has started flowing in, allowing scientists to examine how the oceans and atmosphere interact with each other.

earth.com - NASA launched the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 8, 2024. The mission marks a significant advancement in our ability to study Earth’s oceanic and atmospheric systems. The PACE satellite is equipped with a state-of-the-art Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), designed to capture intricate details of ocean phenomena that are often invisible to the naked eye.

The Economist - Small things can have big effects. Take the plant plankton that populate the Earth’s oceans. When zooplankton eat them, the phytoplankton release a chemical called dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and it is this that people are referring to when they speak of the “smell of the sea". Chemical reactions in the atmosphere turn DMS into sulphur-containing particles that offer a surface for water vapour to condense on. Do that enough times and the result is a cloud.

Richomd Times - As the world’s oceans have moved into their 12th consecutive month as the warmest on record, a new National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth-observing satellite mission has come online. It will monitor the ocean health and particulates in the atmosphere.

USF News -  From the air to sea, small things can have big impacts on our planet.
Aquatic microorganisms known as phytoplankton serve as photosynthesizing powerhouses, producing more than half of Earth’s oxygen. Aerosols — often-invisible particles suspended in the atmosphere — can have significant influence on Earth’s climate, weather, public health, and ecology.

The Baltimore Banner -  To better understand the ocean surface, NASA scientists went to the stars.
The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite launched into orbit on Feb. 8 on a quest to better understand the microscopic content of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.
“This mission is really the search for the invisible,” NASA Project Scientist Jeremy Werdell told Capital News Service.