NASA planned to launch the satellite today March 4Glory, intended to study lthe influence of the Sun and particles in the atmosphere on Earth’s climate change. However, it has not managed to separate itself from the Taurus XL rocket it was traveling on, which has prevented it from being put into orbit. TheGlory planned to join theprograma “A-Train”, made up of the set of Earth observation satellites that are already in orbit and that investigate the variables that affect the climate.
The objective of the satellite was to measure atmospheric particles known asaerosol sprays, are small enough to float in the Earth’s atmosphere and affect weather conditions either by absorbing sunlight or by reflecting it. In addition, the space artifact, the size of a refrigerator, was equipped with an instrument capable of measuringsubtle fluctuations in the energy emitted by the Sun.
With this instrument, NASA set out to find out the effects of these aerosols, for example,if they could change the patterns of the rain as they enter the cloudsor if they accumulated in the atmosphere, and if these effects would be long lasting. The effects of some aerosols are limited to the parts of the world that generate them. Cities in developing countries often produce most of the “carbon black,” or soot, and it is in these areas that the effects are seen most clearly, sometimes even in the form of health problems. However, other aerosols, such as dust from the Sahara desert, rise high enough to be transported across the oceans, even to the Caribbean.
The satellite was scheduled to separate from the propellant projectile 13 minutes after launch and enter a synchronized orbit with the Sun that would allow it to scan almost the entire surface of the Earth. Scientists hoped that theGlory, along with the rest of the satellites and a future mission calledCarbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), scheduled for February 2013, would offer the most comprehensive view yet of Earth’s climate and what makes it change.
