LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- NASA launched a new satellite mission into orbit early Thursday to study ocean health, air quality and the effects of a changing climate for the benefit of humanity.

Known as PACE, the Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1:33 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday (0633 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA confirmed signal acquisition from the satellite about five minutes after launch, and the spacecraft was performing as expected.

According to NASA, the PACE mission will study the impact of tiny, often invisible things -- microscopic life in water and microscopic particles in the air from hundreds of miles above Earth.

The satellite's hyperspectral ocean color instrument will allow researchers to measure oceans and other waterbodies across a spectrum of ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light.

Scientists and coastal resource managers can use the data to help forecast the health of fisheries, track harmful algal blooms and identify changes in the marine environment.

The spacecraft also carries two polarimeter instruments, which will detect how sunlight interacts with particles in the atmosphere, giving researchers new information on atmospheric aerosols and cloud properties, as well as air quality at local, regional and global scales.

With the combination of the instrument and the polarimeters, PACE will provide insights into the interactions of ocean and atmosphere and how a changing climate affects these interactions, according to NASA. Enditem

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