(Measuring) Dust in the Wind 🎵 Soon, scientists will have a more definite answer to whether mineral dust heats or cools our planet. @NASAEarth's EMIT, or the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation, is now en route to the International Space Station (@ISS) after launching aboard a SpaceX cargo resupply mission on July 14, 2022. Along with EMIT, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is carrying supplies, food, and new science experiments for the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. EMIT is designed to help us better understand how massive plumes of intercontinental dust affect our planet. After it arrives this weekend, EMIT will be installed on the exterior of the space station pointing towards Earth. Using its image spectrometer, it will read light across hundreds of wavelengths to identify the mineral composition of large dust clouds in our atmosphere. It will study how specks of dust in lighter colors may reflect sunlight back into space, cooling Earth, while darker particles may instead absorb solar radiation and heat our planet. Ultimately, EMIT’s observations will allow scientists to have a deeper understanding of our changing climate. Credit: @SpaceX ============ ALT text: Long-exposure image of the CRS-25 launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the center of the image is a distinct orange and gold arc through the sky made by the engine glow of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The background of the image is dominated by the cloudless cool blue of twilight. In the foreground, the tops of trees and water surround the shoreline adjacent to the launch pad. In the bottom right of the image, the launch pad is visible in the far distance illuminated by the exhaust of the rocket. #NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #SpaceX #Climate #Science #ClimateChange #Weather #Dust #Wind #Atmosphere #RocketLaunch #EMIT #CRS25 #Kansas #DustInTheWind #LongExposure