NASA's near space network enables PACE climate mission to 'phone home'

The PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission has delivered its first operational data back to researchers, a feat made possible in part by innovative, data-storing technology from NASA's Near Space Network, ...

As a satellite orbits in space, its systems generate critical data about the spacecraft's health, location, battery life, and more. All of this occurs while the mission's science instruments capture images and data supporting the satellite's overall objective. This data is then encoded and sent back to Earth via radio waves through NASA's Near Space Network and Deep Space Network—but not without challenges. One challenge is extreme distances, where disruptions or delays are common. Satellite disruptions are similar to what internet users experience on Earth with buffering or faulty links. If a disruption occurs, Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking, or DTN, can safely store and forward the data once a path opens.

NASA's Near Space Network integrated DTN into four new antennas and the PACE spacecraft to showcase the benefit this technology can have for science missions. The network, which supports communications for space-based mission within 1.2 million miles of Earth, is constantly enhancing its capabilities to support science and exploration missions. "DTN is the future of space communications, providing robust protection of data that could be lost due to a disruption," said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. "PACE is the first operational science mission to leverage DTN, and we are using it to transmit data to mission operators monitoring the batteries, orbit, and more. This information is critical to mission operations."

An artistic rendering of multiple Earth-observing satellites around the globe using NASA’s Near Space Network to send back critical data. Credit: NASA/Kasey Dillahay Read more

NASA’s PACE satellite’s Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) detects light across a hyperspectral range, which gives scientists new information to differentiate communities of phytoplankton – a unique ability of NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite. This first image released from OCI identifies two different communities of these microscopic marine organisms in the ocean off the coast of South Africa on Feb. 28, 2024. The central panel of this image shows Synechococcus in pink and picoeukaryotes in green. The left panel of this image shows a natural color view of the ocean, and the right panel displays the concentration of chlorophyll-a, a photosynthetic pigment used to identify the presence of phytoplankton. Credit: NASA Read more

The Near Space Network’s new antennas in Alaska, Chile, Norway, and Virginia. These were developed in partnership with KSAT. Credit: NASA Read more