Los Angeles [US], September 16: A state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer built by NASA is moving closer to launch, according to the agency.
The instrument will measure the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide from space, NASA said on Thursday.
Designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the science instrument will be part of an effort led by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper organization to collect data on greenhouse gas point-source emissions.
Built around technologies developed for NASA airborne campaigns and space missions, the spectrometer will provide targeted data on "super-emitters" - the small percentage of individual sources responsible for a significant fraction of global methane and carbon dioxide emissions.
The spectrometer was delivered to a clean room at Planet Labs PBC in San Francisco earlier this week.
It will be integrated over the next several months into a Tanager satellite, before the launch planned for early 2024.
Source: Xinhua
