Science News

NASA Begins Building Hurricane Microsatellite

Hurricanes are entering the Space Age.

This past week NASA announced it would begin the process of building a satellite designed to improve hurricane forecasting. The program, according to a press release by NASA, is called the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS).

The satellites will give scientists the ability to to more accurately forecast hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons based on ocean surface winds that are blowing near the eye wall of the storm.

The satellites are small in size, earning the name microsatellites. The University of Michigan is overseeing the project, which includes the construction of eight microsatellites.

Construction on the machines began Aug. 14. According to CYGNSS Principle Investigator Chris Ruf said the construction phase of the project is the “last phase” and that the new vessels will usher in a “new era” of observing and forecasting hurricanes.

We are now in the last phase of the mission prior to launch and the beginning of a new era in hurricane observations.

Once the fleet of microsatellites are completed, NASA will launch them into Earth’s low orbit, where they will be able to pass over a storm every 12 minutes and collect data.

A photo of the satellite was included with the press release. It shows scientists standing over a table and looking down on a frame of metal that looks like an upside-down roof.

The satellites will measure “roughly 20-by-25-by-11 inches.” They will have a wingspan of 5.5 feet

The body of each satellite measures roughly 20-by-25-by-11 inches, slightly larger than a standard carry-on suitcase. When fully assembled, the satellites will each weigh about 64 pounds.

A mock-up of a completed satellite indicates shows a black machine covered in what looks like solar panels.

A research institute in San Antonio is building the microsatellites and will test them. Microsatellite missions will be coordinated in Boulder, Colorado.

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