The Canadian Space Agency has launched a new satellite to help scientists study ozone depletion in the atmosphere. This is the first small satellite Canada has built in three decades
The Canadian Space Agency has launched a new satellite to help scientists study ozone depletion in the atmosphere. This is the first small satellite Canada has built in three decades. The cost of the satellite to the Canadian taxpayer is 60 million Canadian dollars, which is 43 million American dollars.
During the mission, the satellite will collect data to assess the impact of climate change and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) - the gases that destroy the ozone layer - on this layer that protects against the sun's ultraviolet radiation.
Magellan Aerospace, the main contractor on the mission said that the SCISAT satellite was launched into space by NASA on Tuesday, August 12, 2003.
"Launching the first Canadian satellite in thirty years is a milestone," said Magellan's vice president of marketing. The satellite was launched from the nose of a Pegasus missile that was dropped from an airplane at an altitude of 12.2 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean.
Magellan, one of several industrial and energy companies owned by Calgary tycoon Murray Edwards, said the task would last at least two years. The 150-kilogram satellite is powered by solar collectors and moves in an orbit 650 kilometers above the Earth. He will focus on the study of climate change over Canada and the Arctic Ocean.
Scientists are concerned about the depletion of the ozone layer over Canada's Arctic region, where a 45 percent drop was measured during the XNUMXs, the Canadian Space Agency said in a press release.
Most of the decrease in the ozone level is attributed to CFC - a chemical compound that is often found in sprays and refrigerators. CFC use is now banned by all developed countries, and will gradually be banned in developing countries by 2010.
At the corresponding South Pole, the hole in the ozone over Antarctica has grown and expanded every year since 1979, and has now reached a record width. It covers almost 25 million square kilometers, and its concentration is 70 percent lower than the average for the rest of the planet.
