PACE stands for plankton, aerosol, cloud and ocean ecosystem. A news conference Sunday at Kennedy Space Center focused on how the spacecraft will help NASA better understand the ocean and its impact on our lives. Even in this advanced age of exploration, NOAA says we’ve only explored just 5% of the ocean!
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“The impact the oceans have on our lives is enormous, and yet the oceans are one of the least-understood parts of the Earth,” said Karen St. Germain, of NASA’s Earth Science Division.
One key goal is to study phytoplankton. Another scientist on the panel said as the microscopic base of the food chain, phytoplankton is essential to the health of the entire marine ecosystem.
The other major part of PACE’s mission is studying air quality. I heard the panel Sunday mention a couple of times that last year was the hottest on record, so it’s clear that global warming will be a big focus as well.
“The last 10 years have been the warmest since modern record keeping began,” NASA’s senior climate advisor Kate Calvin said.
Calvin said PACE will help better understand how carbon is exchanged between the ocean and the atmosphere.
NASA says it will share that data collected from the mission with us.
Little did I know when watching Apollo 13 in the third grade that 20 years later, I was destined for a thrilling career as your Space Coast multimedia journalist.
Chemistry and biology weren’t so interesting to me in high school science, but I loved my Earth and Space class (Thanks, Mr. Lang).
Then in 2016, I traded Capitol correspondent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for space correspondent. I’m proud that my first live report at News 6 happened to be the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster on a barge. What seems so routine now was a really big deal that day in our newsroom!
From there, I’ve covered the Commercial Crew program and the return of human spaceflight to Kennedy Space Center (Demo-2 launched on my 33rd birthday!)
Now, as our coverage looks forward to missions to the moon and Mars, I often tell others I have the best job in local news. Because after all I’ve seen so far, I think I would be bored working somewhere else. I even bought a house near the Cape with a great view to the north so I never miss a launch even when I’m not working.
After seven years on the beat, though, I still consider myself a young space reporter and I always look forward to learning something new with every assignment.
Have a great launch into the rest of your week!
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Daniel started with WKMG-TV in 2000 and became the digital content manager in 2009. When he's not working on ClickOrlando.com, Daniel likes to head to the beach or find a sporting event nearby.
Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.
