TEMPO

Jumping ahead to the future, NASA plans to launch its first Earth Venture Instrument mission, Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO for short). The satellite will be in geostationary orbit approximately 22,000 miles above Earth’s equator — the satellite’s orbital period will be the same length as Earth’s rotational period so that it appears, from Earth, that the satellite is stationary in the sky. TEMPO will measure atmospheric pollution in North America, which will help scientists determine the effect of air pollution on global weather and climate.