Vanderbilt’s $42 million NASA-supported satellite mission dedicated to studying ice cloud formation was approved for its next stage of development on Oct. 29, 2024. Since then, engineers and scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have been gathering materials while Blue Canyon Technology builds the two spacecrafts necessary for the estimated 2027 launch.
The mission was selected with the intention of helping scientists and humanity at large understand Earth’s dynamic atmosphere. Dr. Ralf Bennartz, professor of earth and environmental science, is the principal investigator for the mission. He emphasized the project’s focus on ice clouds as an underrepresented area for research within climate science.
“Climate predictions come with uncertainty. We don’t quite know exactly how the Earth is going to be warming in 10, 20 [or] 50 years from now,” Bennartz said. “We want to give constraints to people who model the climate system, and in doing so, provide better guidance for environmental and government agencies on mitigating climate change 30, 40 years from now.”
The NASA instrument that will be used in the mission is known as the Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR), which can travel around the Earth 14 to 15 times in one day and will take measurements to help scientists determine how ice clouds behave. Bennartz said this project represents the technological development of the U.S. on a global scale.
“This is an observation concept that has not been realized in the U.S. as of yet. The Chinese have instruments they’re putting into space. The Europeans have similar instruments they’re putting into space, although not quite with exactly the same capabilities,” Bennartz said. “On the U.S. side, we’re playing a little bit of technological catch-up with other global leaders in Earth exploration.”
In addition to the technological development occurring in the implementation phase, the project also includes student collaboration and educational programming. Christopher Vanags, director of the Peabody research office and a research assistant professor in earth and environmental sciences, currently leads the project’s educational efforts. He said a big objective of this work is to make science more accessible.
“My job is about connecting scientists with the community. They’re thinking very deeply about the science that’s involved in getting this radiometer up into space [and] how to control it — things like that,” Vanags said. “I think a really important component of that is to take what they’re doing and sort of give the public an eye into that process.”
According to Vanags, one of the biggest educational initiatives he leads includes providing high school students at the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt opportunities to work on projects involving topics like computational thinking and electrical engineering.
Pamela Popp, an instructor at Vanderbilt’s collaborative for STEM education and outreach, expressed excitement about seeing students’ enthusiasm for a project with such significance.
“It’s about following these processes that are parallel to the high-tech processes that the NASA scientists are doing,” Popp said. “Everybody wants to work with NASA. If you’re interested in STEM at all, that’s every kid’s dream.”
Beyond K-12 outreach, Bennartz said he sees a lot of potential for undergraduate involvement, as students would gain exposure to scientists from various universities, including Columbia University, the University of Michigan and Texas A&M.
“We’re trying to do a little sandbox theoretical experiment to see how the instrument will take observations, eventually leading all the way down to improved climate modeling,” Bennartz said. “There is a great science team beyond just my group at Vanderbilt, which is something potentially very attractive to undergraduates as well as graduate students because they get embedded in this nationwide and international project.”
Planning for the project initially began in May of 2023, which is when NASA-granted funding for the project was approved. While there have been pauses on research funding due to recent executive actions by President Donald Trump’s administration, Bennartz said he does not think the project will be immediately affected by these actions.
Additionally, Bennartz added that while the $42 million project is on the smaller side of NASA missions, he believes the project still represents notable strides in the field of climate research.
“We are a small mission, but I think we can ultimately contribute something significant to help make better climate predictions. It’s very exciting,” Bennartz said.
