The four new NASA satellites launched into space could help improve weather forecasts.
Hurricanes and typhoons will no longer have an hour’s respite: after a second successful takeoff on Friday, a constellation of small NASA satellites is now complete, and will be able to observe the evolution of these storms much more frequently than x27; previously.
An Electron rocket from Rocket Lab has lifted off from Mahia in northern New Zealand with two new satellites on board. This American company had already launched the first two at the beginning of the month.
Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said he was proud of the success of these two liftoffs, which needed to happen quickly one after the other. The constellation is thus in place in time for the 2023 storm season, he said in a press release.
The satellites are the size of a box. shoes, and will evolve at an altitude of some 550 kilometers.
Between them, they will have the capacity to pass every hour over tropical cyclones, called hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the Pacific, compared to every six hours currently. The mission was baptized TROPICS.
The information collected (on precipitation, temperature and humidity) can help improve weather forecasts, in particular to know where the hurricane will make landfall and at what intensity, and thus better prepare for possible evacuations of populations living on the coasts.
The data will be used by the US National Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, among others.
As a Florida resident, I know how bad it is. important for millions of Americans to have timely and accurate weather forecasts, NASA boss Bill Nelson said in a statement.
The constellation It was originally supposed to have six satellites instead of four, but the first two were lost when a rocket from the American company Astra malfunctioned shortly after liftoff last year.
As the surface of the oceans warms, hurricanes (or typhoons) become more powerful, according to scientists.
L' Hurricane Ian that devastated Florida in 2022 claimed dozens of lives and alone caused more than US$100 billion in damage, by far the costliest weather disaster in the world last year.
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