Tanager-1 Satellite:
NASA, in collaboration with various organizations, has launched the Tanager-1 satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
- Tanager-1 is designed to track methane and carbon dioxide emissions using imaging spectrometer technology developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- This technology can identify and quantify greenhouse gases by measuring the unique spectral “fingerprints” left by different compounds in the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Methane, a potent greenhouse gas contributing significantly to global warming, is particularly targeted due to its role in forming ground-level ozone, which poses health risks and is linked to premature deaths.
- Reducing methane emissions is critical, especially since fossil fuel operations are responsible for a large share of human-caused methane emissions.
