"PREFIRE And Ice": PREFIRE 2 – Electron/Kick Stage (fl 49) – Mahia, LC-1 (NZ) – 01.06.2024 3:00 UTC

[zandr]

https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1788354385506123779

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Hot off the press (kit). All the latest info has just dropped on our next two Electron launches for @NASA's PREFIRE climate science mission. https://rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

Второй пуск парного запуска.

[zandr]

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/

The two dedicated missions will each deploy one satellite to a 525km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The first mission – named 'Ready, Aim, PREFIRE' – is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 22, 2024. The launch date of the second mission – named 'PREFIRE And Ice' – will be scheduled to take place within three weeks of the successful deployment of the first PREFIRE mission.

NASA's PREFIRE mission is a climate change-focused mission that that will systematically measure the heat, in the form of infrared and far-infrared wavelengths, lost from Earth's polar regions for the first time. Extreme storms, flooding, and coastal erosion are examples of weather outcomes that are influenced by climate conditions in the Arctic and Antarctica. Once deployed to their separate orbits, the two PREFIRE satellites will criss-cross over the Arctic and Antarctica measuring thermal infrared radiation – the same type of energy emitted from a heat lamp – that will make climate models more accurate and help predict changes caused by global warming. PREFIRE consists of two 6U CubeSats with a baseline mission length of 10 months.

The missions will be Rocket Lab's 48th and 49th Electron launches overall and its sixth and seventh launches of 2024.

[Pirat5]

presskit

[zandr]

https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1795919792626610418

Rocket Lab  @RocketLab
Just a few days after launching the first PREFIRE satellite for @NASA we're back for round two!

The 'PREFIRE and Ice' mission is scheduled for lift-off from Launch Complex 1 on 1 June NZST.
 3:00 pm, June 1 NZST
 3:00 am, June 1 UTC
 8:00 pm, May 31 PDT
 11:00 pm, May 31 EDT
More: https://bit.ly/4aI1Jl5

[zandr]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240529664488/en/Rocket-Lab-Sets-Date-for-Second-NASA-PREFIRE-Launch

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ("Rocket Lab" or "the Company"), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today confirmed the scheduled launch date for the second of two back-to-back Electron launches for NASA's PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) climate change-focused mission.

The 'PREFIRE and Ice' launch is scheduled to take place on 1 June NZST just seven days after the first PREFIRE launch, 'Ready, Aim, PREFIRE,' which successfully launched on May 25th, 2024. 'PREFIRE and Ice' will lift-off from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a launch window that opens at 3:00 pm NZST (03:00 am, 1 June UTC).

Спойлер

NASA's PREFIRE mission consists of two shoebox-size cube satellites that will measure the amount of heat Earth radiates into space from Earth's poles. Data from the PREFIRE mission will help researchers better predict how Earth's ice, seas, and weather will change in a warming world. At the heart of the PREFIRE mission is Earth's energy budget – the balance between incoming heat energy from the Sun and the outgoing heat given off by the planet. The difference between the two is what determines the planet's temperature and climate. A lot of the heat radiated from the Arctic and Antarctica is emitted as far-infrared radiation, but there is currently no detailed measurement of this type of energy. The water vapor content of the atmosphere, along with the presence, structure, and composition of clouds, influences the amount of far-infrared radiation that escapes into space from Earth's poles. Data collected from PREFIRE will give researchers information on where and when far-infrared energy radiates from the Arctic and Antarctic environments into space.

Rocket Lab's ability to launch dedicated missions to precise orbits in quick succession is critical to the success of PREFIRE. The mission requires two separate satellites to follow similar trajectories but along different paths to overlap with each other every few hours near the Arctic and Antarctica and capture accurate heat loss measurements.

[свернуть]

'PREFIRE and Ice' will be Rocket Lab's 49th Electron launch overall and seventh launch of 2024.