NASA Hosts Media Viewing of Spacecraft to Study Oceans, Clouds

Media visit NASA's PACE spacecraft in a cleanroom.
Members of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) team are photographed with the spacecraft on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, during a NASA-hosted media day inside a cleanroom at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Members of the media viewed NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Subject matter experts from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters in Washington, and the agency’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy provided an overview of the Earth observing science mission and answered questions about PACE. Data from the mission will help NASA understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide, measure key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and Earth’s climate, and monitor ocean health through the study of phytoplankton. 

The opportunity provided media with a final look at the spacecraft before encapsulation in preparation for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff is targeted for Tuesday, Feb 6, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.