NASA to Discuss New Polar Climate Mission During Media Teleconference

MAY 13, 2024

NASA is hosting a media call at 3 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 15, to discuss the agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission, which aims to improve life on Earth by studying heat loss from Earth’s polar regions and provide information on our changing climate.

The first of two shoebox-sized satellites is targeted to launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket no earlier than Wednesday, May 22. The launch date for the second satellite will be announced shortly after the launch of the first satellite.

Earth absorbs a lot of energy from the Sun at the tropics. Weather and ocean currents move that heat energy toward the poles, where the heat radiates upward into space. Much of that heat is in far-infrared wavelengths and has never been systematically measured. The data from PREFIRE will address this knowledge gap for the benefit of all by improving predictions of climate change and sea level rise.

The audio-only teleconference streamed live on the agency’s website.

Participants include:

Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington

Mary White, project manager, PREFIRE, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California

Tristan L’Ecuyer, principal investigator, PREFIRE, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Peter Beck, CEO and founder, Rocket Lab

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-discuss-new-polar-climate-mission-during-media-teleconference/

SpaceX Starlink Mission

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, May 14 for a Falcon 9 launch of 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 11:39 a.m. PT. If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Wednesday, May 15 starting at 9:06 a.m. PT.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 18th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and 12 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-8-7

Space Force publishes Data, AI strategic action plan

May 14, 2024

ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) – The U.S. Space Force published its Data and Artificial Intelligence FY 2024 Strategic Action Plan providing specific direction for the enterprise to reach data centricity capable of conducting operations in contested environments.

“To remain competitive in the era of Great Power Competition, the United States Space Force requires a unified approach across data, analytics, and AI activities; an educated, empowered workforce skilled at incorporating commercial teams and tools; continued advanced research and rapid experimentation; and effective integration with our allies and partners,” said Col. Nathan L. Iven, acting chief technology and innovation officer for the Space Force. “To deliver on this vision, the USSF Data and AI FY 2024 Strategic Action Plan identifies initial actions for organizations that are essential for establishing processes, building capacity, and aligning existing efforts to better leverage data as a strategic asset.”

According to the plan, the Space Force must adopt modern, adaptive, and agile data and analytic capabilities to enable secure discovery, access, integration, and use of intelligence data at the speed of mission requirements. To do so, the service will focus on the following four lines of efforts to make data visible, accessible, understandable, linked, trustworthy, interoperable and secure:

• Mature, Enterprise-Wide Data and AI Governance

• Advance a Data and AI-Driven Culture

• Reoptimize Data, Advance Analytics, and AI Technologies

• Strengthen Government, Academic, Industry, and International Partnerships

“It is essential that we have a coordinated framework necessary to align with the DAF — and synchronize stakeholders across the Space Force,’’ stated Chandra L. Donelson, chief data and artificial intelligence officer for the Space Force. “This holistic enterprise approach mapped out within this new data action plan sets USSF forth a path to ensure there is never a day without space data for our nation, allies and partners.”

https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3774329/space-force-publishes-data-ai-strategic-action-plan/