The PREFIRE mission is a crucial initiative to understand the impact of heat emissions from the Arctic and Antarctica on the global climate. Recently, the first of two climate satellites designed to study heat emissions at Earth’s poles for NASA was successfully launched atop Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand.
The agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission consists of two shoebox-size cube satellites or CubeSats, that will measure the amount of heat Earth radiates into space from two of the coldest, most remote regions on the planet. Data from the PREFIRE mission will help researchers better predict how Earth’s ice, seas, and weather will change in a warming world.
“NASA’s innovative PREFIRE mission will fill a gap in our understanding of the Earth system — providing our scientists a detailed picture of how Earth’s polar regions influence how much energy our planet absorbs and releases,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington. “This will improve prediction of sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise, creating a better understanding of how our planet’s system will change in the coming years — crucial information to farmers tracking changes in weather and water, fishing fleets working in changing seas, and coastal communities building resilience.”
Ground controllers have successfully established communications with the CubeSat at 8:48 a.m. EDT. The second PREFIRE CubeSat will soon launch on its own Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1. Following a 30-day checkout period to ensure both CubeSats are functioning properly, the mission is expected to operate for ten months.
At the core of the PREFIRE mission lies Earth’s energy budget — the equilibrium between incoming solar heat energy and the planet’s outgoing heat. This balance ultimately determines the planet’s temperature and climate. Currently, there is a lack of detailed measurements for the far-infrared radiation emitted from the Arctic and Antarctica, where a significant amount of heat is released.
The water vapor content of the atmosphere, in conjunction with the presence, structure, and composition of clouds, directly impacts the amount of far-infrared radiation that escapes into space from Earth’s poles. By collecting data, PREFIRE will provide researchers with valuable insights into the precise locations and timings of far-infrared energy emissions from the Arctic and Antarctic environments into space.
“The PREFIRE CubeSats may be small, but they’re going to close a big gap in our knowledge about Earth’s energy budget,” said Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Their observations will help us understand the fundamentals of Earth’s heat balance, allowing us to better predict how our ice, seas, and weather will change in the face of global warming.”
The mission’s CubeSats each carry an instrument called a thermal infrared spectrometer, which uses specially shaped mirrors and sensors to measure infrared wavelengths. Miniaturizing the instruments to fit on CubeSats necessitated downsizing some parts while scaling up other components.
“Our planet is changing quickly, and in places like the Arctic, in ways that people have never experienced before,” said Tristan L’Ecuyer, PREFIRE’s principal investigator, University of Wisconsin, Madison. “NASA’s PREFIRE will give us new measurements of the far-infrared wavelengths being emitted from Earth’s poles, which we can use to improve climate and weather models and help people around the world deal with the consequences of climate change.”
NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the renowned Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in collaboration with NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, is proud to offer cutting-edge launch services under the agency’s Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract.
The groundbreaking PREFIRE mission is a result of the collaborative efforts of NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Managed by NASA JPL for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate and equipped with state-of-the-art spectrometers, this mission is set to push the boundaries of scientific exploration. With the CubeSats built by Blue Canyon Technologies and data processing handled by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this mission is poised for success. The launch services will be provided by Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California, ensuring a seamless and efficient execution of this pioneering mission.
