Nov
2010
The Power and the Glory
It’s a shame that rocket launches of satellites do not receive the same level of interest and media attention that they used to given that this is still a huge technical undertaking. Of course it is understandable given that according to the National Space Science Data Center at the end of October 2010 6,578 satellites have been launched into orbit since 1957. However, it is a shame because important launches of satellites like that of NASA’s Glory satellite will go largely unnoticed, when in fact they will provide incredibly useful data that will help to inform the future development of mankind and our use of the planet.
NASA Illustration of Glory
The Glory satellite is designed to “Increase Our Understanding of the Earth’s Energy Balance”. What this means to you and I is that NASA will be observing the very fine balance between incoming radiation from the Sun and outgoing radiation reflected and emitted by Earth and the impact of aerosols on this balance. This is important because life on Earth rests in the small margins of this equation. With the launch of Glory NASA will be able to map atmospheric aerosols in far more detail than ever before and improve our ability to predict how climate change and the net cooling effect of aerosols will impact different regions of Earth.
This is important for organisations and countries in helping to inform the management of their emissions, but this may also be important for better informing the decisions made by authorities when for example a volcano erupts and guidelines are required for air transport (although this is just my assumption and not something that NASA are claiming).
As those who first travelled to the moon observed, moving to the final frontiers of this world allows us to do one important thing – to look back and admire the glory and the fragility of the planet that we inhabit today, perhaps that is why NASA adopted the name of this special satellite.
Glory Launch Date : February 23, 2011 2:09 a.m. (EST) . . . and counting. Here’s hoping this is a successful launch and deployment.
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