NASA Launches Alien Planet-Hunting Satellite
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Asharq Al-Awsat
NASA has launched a satellite the size of a small box along with a new Earth-observing spacecraft that will monitor the changing state of our planet, reported The Daily Mail. The $4 million satellite, about as big as a "family-sized box of cereals," has launched into space where it will study the physics of 'hot Jupiter' exoplanets. Known as Colorado, the spacecraft is a cube satellite (CubeSat) that will spend seven months looking at these extreme worlds. It is the first CubeSat mission funded by NASA to look at exoplanets and give the space agency a better idea of what is possible with the small satellite technology. NASA's latest Landsat Earth-observing satellite also finally launched, going up on the same rocket, after a month of delays caused by a shortage of liquid nitrogen. Both satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc, California on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, on September 27 at 14:11 EDT (19:11 BST). The Landsat 9 satellite is NASA's most powerful Earth observation satellite launched to date and continues a 50-year legacy. Operated by NASA and the US Geological Survey, it will continue to catalog changes on the planet - both from human activity and natural processes. "We've assembled an amazing history of how the planet has changed over the last half century. For example, we're able to see the natural disturbances that occur, such as fires, hurricanes, and insect outbreaks," said Dr. Jeff Masek, NASA's Landsat-9 project scientist. The latest edition will specifically look at climate and climate-change impacts on ecosystems that could help drive policy and conservation efforts.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3216066/nasa-launches-alien-planet-hunting-satellite
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