NASA is preparing to launch its Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 on July 1 to assess from low-earth orbit the impact carbon dioxide has on the planet.
The launch of the satellite and its rocket was scheduled to take place at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:56 a.m. Eastern, preceded by a 3:45 a.m. webcast from NASA.
With over half a century of data indicating that half of human-produced and naturally occurring CO2 has been released into the atmosphere and the rest into terrestrial bodies, Ralph Basilio, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said he hopes to learn why absorption of the greenhouse gas varies each year. Mapping emission points isn't the mission's primary focus, Basilio said, rather its goal is to conduct sampling and to try to help scientists pin down what drives the absorption and removal of CO2.
"I think it's quite remarkable over the past decades we've seen that half the carbon dioxide has been removed by natural processes, but we still aren't quite sure which are the key processes involved," Basilio said. "Trying to get to a point of understanding the details of those processes will give us some insight into the future and what's likely to happen over the next decades, even if we continue to consume more and more fossil fuels and emit more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."
The July 1 launch of the $468 million mission will serve as NASA's second attempt to launch a carbon observatory into orbit. The first attempt, in 2009, failed before the satellite could make it into orbit. Launching from the same Air Force base as its successor, the original Orbiting Carbon Observatory sank off the coast of Antarctica within minutes of lifting off. This satellite is being launched on a Delta 2 rocket.
Betsy Edwards, program executive at NASA's Washington headquarters, said the data the observatory collects will arm legislators on all levels with a better understanding of the ways carbon dioxide contributes to climate change. The satellitle's high-resolution spectrometer will measure carbon dioxide levels by looking at the intensity of sunlight reflected from the presence of CO2 in a column of air.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which traps heat in Earth's atmosphere and warms the plant, and quickens the pace of shifts in the planet's climate. Scientists have learned that CO2 levels have increased from 280 parts per million, at the dawn of the industrial age, to 400 parts per million in 2013, which makes a better understanding of the emission and absorption of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases crucial.
To watch the launch online, visit NASA's official website.
