Carbon-sniffing satellite to be launched

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The U.S. space agency’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is being readied for launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said its Orbiting Carbon Observatory arrived Monday at its launch site on California’s central coast. After final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated onto a Taurus rocket for its planned January launch.

“The observatory will help solve some of the lingering mysteries in our understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle and its primary atmospheric component, carbon dioxide — a chemical compound that is produced both naturally and through human activities,” NASA said in a statement.

The satellite’s science instrument features three first-of-a-kind high-resolution spectrometers that spread reflected sunlight into its various colors. By analyzing those spectra, scientists can detect what gases are in Earth’s atmosphere and determine their amounts.

The observatory will launch into a 438-mile near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit, mapping the Earth once every 16 days. The mission, designed to last two years, will fly in formation with five other NASA spacecraft that are part of the “A-Train” — an afternoon constellation of Earth Observing System satellites that cross the equator each day shortly after noon.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.