LOS ANGELES, May 30 (Xinhua) -- A pair of new shoebox-size NASA satellites will help measure how the behavior of clouds and water vapor at Earth's polar regions affects Earth's climate, NASA said on Thursday.
The first CubeSat in the mission, named the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE), launched from New Zealand last Saturday. The second PREFIRE CubeSat is targeted to lift off on Saturday, June 1.
Information from the PREFIRE mission will illuminate how clouds and water vapor in the Arctic and Antarctic influence the amount of heat the poles radiate into space, according to NASA.
Data from PREFIRE will improve computer models that researchers use to predict how Earth's ice, seas, and weather will change in a warming world. ■
