CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE — During the very early morning hours on Friday, SpaceX successfully launched NASA’s TEMPO satellite that can track North America’s pollution.
What You Need To Know
- The 119-minute launch window opened at 12:30 a.m. EDT, Friday, April 07
- The TEMPO instrument will track and monitor major air pollutants over North America
- RELATED: NASA, Smithsonian TEMPO mission aims to improve air pollution tracking
- 🔻Scroll down to watch the launch🔻
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/rz5nqXReDC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2023
The company’s famed Falcon 9 rocket sent up the Intelsat IS-40e mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, according to SpaceX.
The 119-minute launch window opened at 12:30 a.m. EDT. If something should have happened to delay the liftoff, a backup time was scheduled for Saturday, April 8, at 12:29 a.m. EDT.
The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 90% chance of good launch weather, with the only concerns being liftoff winds and the cumulus cloud rule.
B1076, the first-stage booster, has successfully launched the missions of CRS-26, OneWeb Flight 16 and one Starlink.
As the Falcon 9 sent the Intelsat IS-40e to a geosynchronous transfer orbit, the first-stage booster separated and landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that was out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/dThsFpG0xL
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2023
Getting a little TEMPO for the mission
The Intelsat IS-40e satellite will carry Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument.
NASA described it as the first space-based instrument to track and monitor major air pollutants over North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Canadian oil sands to below Mexico City.
The TEMPO mission is a collaboration between the space agency and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), with support from the NASA Science Mission Directorate.
“The TEMPO instrument is a UV-visible spectrometer, and will be the first ever space-based instrument to monitor air pollutants hourly across the North American continent during daytime,” described the SAO.
The data that will be collected will include: ozone, nitrogen, dioxide and other pollutants.
NASA stated that TEMPO will monitor the major air pollutants hourly and it is believed it will revolutionize air quality forecasts.
Learn more in detail about TEMPO right here.
Deployment of @Intelsat IS-40e confirmed pic.twitter.com/LSKxNia9R7
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2023
Watch the launch
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