NASA’s SpaceX to launch regenerative space weather satellite

A $ 340 million solar-powered spacecraft first dreamed up by U.S. Vice President Al Gore is finally ready for launch within a few hours of for it to be stored by NASA for years.

The unmanned Deep Space Climate Observatory is expected to explode at the top of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

DSCOVR’s goal is to help space weather forecasts by collecting data about solar winds and geomagnetic storms that could damage electrical systems on Earth.

Following the announcement, SpaceX will make another effort to steer the first phase of its Falcon 9 rocket back to land under the control of an ocean platform, as part of the California-based company’s goal to make rockets one day as reasonable as planes.

In January, the rocket attempted a controlled maneuver to land on a Atlantic powerboat, but they hit the spot and shattered.

However, SpaceX executives say they don’t see the test as a failure, and that many more custom runs are underway as they update their technology with the goal of pioneering the world’s first recyclable rockets and puts an end to the current practice of allowing millions of dollars in equipment. to fall to pieces in the ocean after each launch.

“We fixed the problems. We hope this trip goes well, ”said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission commitment at SpaceX.

The DSCOVR mission, a collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is directed to a point about a million miles from Earth, a destination known as the Lagrangian point, or L1.