NASA opens a new era this month in its exploration of our home planet with the launch of the first in a series of Earth science instruments to the International Space Station. A media briefing on this addition to NASA's Earth-observing program will air at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) Monday, Sept. 8, on NASA Television and the agency's website.
The first Earth-observing instrument to be mounted on the exterior of the space station will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on the next SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services flight. ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring from the space station's unique vantage point.
The second instrument is the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), a laser instrument that will measure clouds and the location and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke and other particulates in the atmosphere. CATS will follow ISS-RapidScat on the fifth SpaceX space station resupply flight.
The briefing will take place at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. The briefing panelists are:
-- Julie Robinson, ISS Program chief scientist, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston
-- Steve Volz, associate director for flight programs in the Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington
-- Melanie Miller, lead SpaceX-4 robotics officer, Johnson Space Center
-- Ernesto Rodriguez, ISS-RapidScat project scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
-- Matthew McGill, CATS principal investigator, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
The briefing will be streamed live on the agency's website at:
Media and the public can join the conversation using #EarthRightNow and #ISS, and ask questions using #askNASA.
For more on NASA Earth science launches, research and applications, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow
For more information about the International Space Station, visit: