Send Your Name Around the Earth
Now is another chance for you to send your name to space again. This time, your name will be part of NASA’s Glory satellite, scheduled for launch in June 2009. Anyone and everyone can take part, go to the “Send Your Name Around the Earth” website and place your name in orbit for years to come. As usual, you will get a certificate of participation.
The deadline is 1 November 2008. Act fast!
Glory is a satellite dedicated to understand the effects of airborne particles in the atmosphere and the Sun’s variability on our climate. The particles, known as “aerosols” are tiny particles suspended in the air. Some occur naturally, such as from volcanoes and dust storms, but human activities, such as burning of fossil fuels and industrial activities, also contribute (about 10%) to the amount of aerosols in our atmosphere.
Since most aerosols reflect sunlight back to space, they tend to cause cooling of the surface immediately below them. We know that aerosols affect our climate, but we still have a lot to learn about the ways they affect our regional and global climate.
Glory satellite will carry two scientific instruments, the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS), and the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), and two cameras for cloud identification. It will allow scientists to measure airborne particles more accurately from space than ever before. These data will help scientists draw conclusions about the effects of aerosols on Earth’s atmosphere and climate system.
To quoto Michael Mishchenko, the Glory project scientist: “Undoubtedly, greenhouse gases cause the biggest climatic effect, but the uncertainty in the aerosol effect is the biggest uncertainty in climate at the present.”
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If you have not yet sent your name aboard the Kepler spacecraft, better do it now! The deadline is also 1 November 2008.
My Dark Sky 