One of the best things about human beings is how we are always trying to get better on a rather consistent basis. This allows us to hit upon some huge milestones along the way, with each one optimally positioned to bring a unique value to our lives. However, despite all the uniqueness in play here, we can’t claim to have achieved anything as unprecedented as technology. You see, technology, right from the get go, imposed such a dynamic that we had never even imagined before, and mind you; it wasn’t just because of its ingenious skill-set. The whole utopia was also predicated upon the manner in which it used those skills for impacting our entire spectrum, thus eventually turning us into a tech-driven society. Interestingly, though, this reality won’t slow down the technology’s revolution by any means. It will, instead, keep moving under one capacity or the other. The same pattern is pretty evident in NASA’s latest assignment.
NASA has officially launched a special payload that will help the agency in solving one of the biggest climate mysteries ever. Deemed as Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), the project will inform the scientists about various elements of dust and how it affects the earth’s temperature from a general standpoint. According to certain reports, EMIT will use an instrument called advanced imagining spectrometer to collect more than a billion measurements over the next year. These measurements will have a clear-cut lowdown on the composition of dust around the globe, therefore enhancing our understanding in regards to how much atmosphere’s dust comes from dark or light minerals. The idea is, of course, to use this information for improving our climate models moving forward, and as a result, become better positioned to handle climate change. Talk about the method EMIT will probably use, it is going to base its judgement on spectrum of light reflected from the surface of our planet.
“EMIT is studying mineral dust because it’s currently an unknown element,” Robert Green, principal investigator of EMIT, said at a July 13th briefing on the mission. “Not just the magnitude of how much it heats or cools, but whether it heats or cools is uncertain.”
Beyond climate change, the study will also dig into gazillion other components that are also influenced by dust. This includes plant nutrition, cloud formation, air quality, water availability, and much more. Dispatched alongside 5,800 pounds of other science experiments and crew supplies, EMIT is on route to the International Space Station, where it will start collecting data from the end of July, and in just two months, NASA will start sharing that data with the public.