NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft is one step closer to launch. Workers transported the spacecraft to SpaceX’s hangar at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, Feb. 1, for payload integration to the Falcon 9 rocket supporting this mission.
Prior to transport, PACE was encapsulated inside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center.
After payload integration, teams will roll the launch vehicle to the pad at SLC-40 and raise the vehicle vertical ahead of liftoff, which is targeted for no earlier than 1:33 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
PACE will help inform climate science by better understanding how the ocean and atmosphere interact. PACE will observe ocean ecosystem health, clouds, and tiny airborne particles called aerosols, such as smoke and dust. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages PACE while the agency’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the launch service for the mission.