NASA Sets Coverage for Air Quality Instrument Launch
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 12:30 a.m. EDT Friday, April 7, to launch NASA’s TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution instrument). TEMPO is the first space-based instrument to monitor major air pollutants hourly in high spatial resolution – down to four square miles – in a region stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Canadian oil sands to below Mexico City, encompassing the entire continental United States.
Liftoff will be from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The instrument is a payload on the satellite Intelsat 40E. It was built by Ball Aerospace and integrated onto Intelsat 40E by Maxar.
Live launch coverage will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Follow events online at:
Full coverage of this mission is as follows (all times Eastern):
Friday, April 7
12:05 a.m. – Prelaunch broadcast with the following participants:
- Karen St. Germain, Earth Science Division director, NASA Headquarters
- Erika Wright, education specialist, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
12:19 a.m. – Live launch coverage begins
12:30 a.m. – Two-hour launch window opens
NASA website and social launch coverage
Launch coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include social media and blog updates beginning no earlier than 12:05 a.m. Friday, April 7, as launch milestones occur. Follow NASA social media accounts and NASA Langley Research Center social media accounts for mission updates.