NASA Launches EMIT Mission to Solve Mystery of Airborne Dust

US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)continues its space missions without slowing down. The agency, which recently shared the first images from the James Webb Telescope, which is of great importance for human history, has now made an important launch for climate research.

NASA launched a payload with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. It was reported that this mission could play a key role in solving a climate mystery that scientists have been investigating for a long time.

Dust in the air could solve the mystery

According to the descriptions this Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source (EMIT) This research, called dust will conduct investigations. It is stated that these tiny particles rising from deserts and other arid regions may have a heating or cooling effect on our planet depending on different factors. Scientists, on the other hand, have been investigating which of these situations occurs for a long time.

EMIT principal investigator Robert Green said in a statement about the mission, “EMIT is working on mineral powder because it’s something we don’t know much about. of dust It is unclear whether it has a heating or cooling effect.” he said. According to the explanations, the reason why the dust is so mysterious is that the particles are different colors. For example, those containing iron can be dark red. Clay-containing ones, on the other hand, can appear much lighter in color.

Experts think that these dust particles can cool the planet by reflecting sunlight, while they also state that dust can create a heating effect by absorbing solar energy. As known climate change an issue that seriously threatens our planet. That’s why scientists want to learn about the effect of dust on global temperatures. It is reported that the EMIT mission will also help with this.

According to the statements, EMIT will be using an instrument called advanced imaging spectrometer for the next year. more than a million will record the powder compositions around the world to measure. So he will be able to see which minerals the dust comes from. In addition, scientists say that with EMIT, they hope to solve the collective effects of dust on the planet, whether it is heating and cooling.

The vehicle carrying hundreds of kilograms together with EMIT is expected to reach the station on Saturday. In addition, NASA plans to collect data and use this data until the end of July. in a few months It is reported that he plans to share it with the world.