Rocket Lab launched the second of two cubesats for NASA’s PREFIRE climate change mission Tuesday night (June 4).
An Electron rocket topped with a small satellite lifted off from Rocket Lab’s site in New Zealand on Tuesday at 11:15pm EDT (0315 GMT and 3:15pm New Zealand local time on June 5).
Tonight’s launch was the second attempt at this mission. The first attempt, on Friday (May 31), ended in backfire thanks to an “out-of-family sensor reading.”
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PREFIRE is an abbreviation for “Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment.” As the name suggests, the mission will study heat loss from Earth’s polar regions, collecting data that will help scientists better understand our warming world.
“Much of the heat from the Arctic and Antarctica is emitted in the form of far-infrared radiation, but there is currently no detailed measurement of this type of energy,” Rocket Lab wrote in a report. Task description.
The company added: “The water vapor content in the atmosphere, in addition to the presence, structure, and composition of clouds, affects the amount of far-infrared radiation that leaks into space from the Earth’s poles.” “Data collected from PREFIRE will provide researchers with information about where and when far-infrared energy from the Arctic and Antarctic environments radiates into space.”
PREFIRE will collect this data using two shoebox-sized satellites. Rocket Lab launched its first satellite on May 25, sending it into a circular orbit 326 miles (525 kilometers) above Earth.
This was the second PREFIRE vehicle It has been published successfully To a slightly different orbit at the same altitude. If all goes according to plan, the duo’s paths will cross every few hours near the planet’s poles.
Rocket Lab called this second mission, which was its 49th orbital launch to date, “PREFIRE and Ice.” The company called the launch on May 25 “Ready, Target, Pre.”
Rocket Lab is working to make the 59-foot (18-meter) Electron first stage reusable; The company has recovered boosters from the sea on several previous launches, but no such activity occurred on “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” or “PREFIRE and Ice.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:55 a.m. ET on June 5 with news of the successful launch and deployment of the satellite.
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