Photo credit Dennis Hlavsa for SpaceX FrontPage
On February 8 th , 2024, SpaceX successfully launched a NASA Earth observation satellite called PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem). Under partly cloudy skies, Falcon 9 rose at 1:33 am EST from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s LC-40. The rocket turned after
liftoff, heading south between the Florida coast and the Bahamas to align it on a polar trajectory. The satellite endured several attempts at cancelation then waited two days for strong winds to subside.
PACE, developed at Goddard in Greenbelt, Maryland, will investigate oceans and the atmosphere to help understand complex systems driving the climate. Instruments will learn how plankton adapt to ocean temperatures. OCI remotely studies differentiate phytoplankton by type. The satellite will track microscopic organisms in atmosphere called aerosols and how they interact with sea plankton. SPEXone and HARP-2 will measure size, amounts, and composition of aerosols. Additional equipment will examine how clouds and aerosols interact.
Photos credit Jerry Pike and Dennis Hlavsa
At 38 minutes before launch, RP-1 flowed into both stages, a super-chilled version of kerosene which allows more fuel to fit inside the Falcon 9. Liquid oxygen, needed for combustion, began to fill simultaneously. Sixteen minutes before t-zero, LOX flowed in the second stage, which is always a brand-new vehicle. Actions controlled by computers ensured significant milestones were executed on time, including engine chill-down and tank pressurization. Nine Merlin engines commenced ignition, lofting the Falcon 9 skyward.
Separation occurred 2:29 seconds later. As the second stage ignited its lone engine moments later, the first performed a flip maneuver then a boost-back burn. Grid fins and cold gas thrusters aligned the descending stage. Six minutes after launch, three engines ignited for the entry burn. This began to slow down the rocket as it lowered to CCSFS. The landing burn allowed B1081 to gently touch down on the concrete pad at LZ-1. Moments later, a double sonic boom spread across the local area. The stage made its fourth flight; previous deliveries include Crew-7, CRS-29 and a Starlink mission.
Photos credit Paradox Adventure Photography for SpaceX FrontPage
The second stage burned for nearly eight minutes before engine cut-off. Separation of PACE occurred at T+12:22. The spent stage performed adjustments to line it up with entry and burn-up over the Pacific Ocean. PACE successfully opened its solar arrays and is operational, circling the planet in a sun-synchronous 98-degree inclined orbit.
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