NASA has launched a new prototype instrument that it hopes will help predict volcanic eruptions. Weighing in at just 13 pounds, the instrument will be the smallest, highest-resolution spacecraft dedicated to observing gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide that may bode well for volcanic activity. , NASA announced on Tuesday.
The instrument is still just a prototype, but NASA plans to deploy the small device, which was launched aboard a recent space launch mission to the International Space Station in May 2022. Named “Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System “or NACHOS, will be able to detect gases in areas as small as 0.15 square miles, which is about the size of the Mall of America, NASA said.
“A dormant volcano that has just awakened can emit [sulfur dioxide] before there is any detectable seismic activity. This gives us a chance to identify a potentially erupting volcano before it actually explodes, “Steve Love, a researcher in the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory Remote Sensing and Space Group, said in a press release. NASA.
NASA researchers expect NACHOS to do more than just predict volcanic eruptions. He plans to use the device to monitor air quality in cities and neighborhoods and even individual power plants, the agency said.
“When we recognize that these gases are present and can locate their sources on a scale less than a mile away, we have the opportunity to take action and minimize the negative health outcomes,” Love said.
The size of NACHOS makes it much cheaper and smaller than the satellites currently used to observe trace gases.
“There are excellent instruments in orbit that collect data on atmospheric trace gases,” Love said, “but they are expensive to produce and maintain.”
NACHOS is only the size of a football, which makes it a power the size of a comb.
Credits: Los Alamos National Laboratory / Logan Ott
“More power and less weight distinguish NACHOS and make it an excellent candidate for future atmospheric gas tracking missions,” Love said.
NACHOS will remain aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, which was launched on February 19, until May, when the spacecraft will return to Earth from the ISS. NACHOS will be placed in the lower orbit of the Earth before the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere.
NACHOS is expected to remain in orbit for about a year, when it will be replaced by another instrument.
- In:
- International Space Station
- volcano
- United States Environmental Protection Agency
- NASA
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