NASA and SpaceX technicians safely dock the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft in the Falcon 9’s payload fairing Tuesday at Astrotech’s Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The fairing halves protect the spacecraft from aerodynamic pressure and heat during the ascent phase of launch. PACE will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida next Tuesday. The fairing halves protect the spacecraft from aerodynamic pressure and heat during the ascent phase of launch. About three minutes after takeoff, the halves separate and return to Earth.
Upcoming PACE milestones include integrating the payload onto the Falcon 9 rocket before the vehicle reaches the Space Launch Complex 40 pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
PACE will extend and improve NASA’s more than 20 years of global satellite observations Our living oceans, atmospheric aerosols and clouds from their destination in sun-synchronous polar orbit. Its instruments will observe and measure how marine ecosystems interact with the atmosphere in a changing climate.
The PACE project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The agency’s Launch Services Program, headquartered at Kennedy Space Center, is responsible for managing the launch service of the PACE mission.