NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft completed its journey to the Astrotech Spacecraft Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. Engineers and technicians arrived ahead of the spacecraft to prepare ground equipment for offloading and processing before fueling and final encapsulation.
The PACE project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and the agency’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for managing launch service for the mission. The spacecraft is targeted to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early 2024 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The mission aims to clarify how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide, improve upon NASA’s 20-plus years of global satellite observations of ocean biology and atmospheric aerosols, and continue key measurements related to air quality and climate. The observatory will provide new insights into Earth’s oceanic ecosystem that will help scientists better understand how climate change impacts our planet.
Technicians monitor movement as a crane hoists NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory spacecraft after being uncrated on Wednesday, Nov. 15