Rocket Lab's Electron Launches NASA TROPICS CubeSats in New Zealand

Rocket Lab's Electron Launches NASA TROPICS CubeSats in New Zealand

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle successfully launched the “Coming To A Storm Near You” mission, the second pair of CubeSats for NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS), from Pad B at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, on May 26, 2023, at 03:46 UTC (15:46 NZST).

The NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Earth science mission is a constellation of state-of-the-science observing platforms that will measure temperature and humidity soundings and precipitation with spatial resolution comparable to current operational passive microwave sounders but with unprecedented temporal resolution (median revisit time of 50 minutes). Each SmallSat hosts a 12-channel passive microwave spectrometer. The primary mission objective of TROPICS is to relate temperature, humidity, and precipitation structure to the evolution of tropical cyclone intensity.

Learn more at: https://tropics.ll.mit.edu/CMS/tropics/Mission-Overview

Credit: Rocket Lab

Image Dates: May 25-26, 2023

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