Sometimes keeping pace with launch schedules requires technicians and engineers to look at the spacecraft they preparing from all angles. In the case of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft, that included climbing underneath the test stand.
What is it?
This photo is focused on four pairs of feet — belonging to four team members — who inspected the spacecraft before its February 2024 launch.
Though barely seen in the photo, what was above them and the test stand was PACE, a 4 foot, 11 inch by 4 foot, 11 inch by 10 foot, 6 inch (1.5 by 1.5 by 3.2 meter) structure designed to “to extend key systematic ocean color, aerosol and cloud data records for Earth system and climate studies, and to address new and emerging science questions using its advanced instruments, surpassing the capabilities of previous and current missions,” according to NASA.
In other words, the data PACE has collected is improving our understanding about how Earth’s atmosphere and oceans exchange carbon dioxide and reveal how aerosols might fuel phytoplankton growth in the surface ocean.
Where is it?
This photo was taken on Jan. 17, 2024, at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida.
Today, PACE is located 420.4 miles (676.5 kilometers) above Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit.
Why is it amazing?
Sometimes we overlook the roles humans play in uncrewed space missions. The care and attention to detail that technicians and engineers take prior a spacecraft launching is what enable successful missions once the mission is sent into space.
That, and it’s not every day you get to see feet protruding from underneath a spacecraft in a clean room.
Want to know more?
You can read more about the PACE mission and its February 2024 launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
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