NASA researchers are hoping to improve weather forecasts with a special hurricane tracking spacecraft that's scheduled to launch this fall.
- NASA is launching eight 'micro-satellites' to learn about hurricanes
- They say they'll share intel with NOAA
- The new program is scheduled to launch November 22
The program -- dubbed 'Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System Hurricane Mission,' or CYGNSS for short -- will utilize eight micro-satellites to obtain the intel.
The information gathered will be shared with NOAA, who will then aid emergency management services. The mission is expected to uncover never-before-seen details on the formation of hurricanes.
"Well there's two things we're going to be able to get," started program executive Christine Bonniksen. "One is the fact that we're actually going to be able to see the surface winds while the rain is coming down in the hurricane."
"We're [also] going to be able to see many times along the hurricane track for the ones in the Atlantic, when they start out in Africa and they move onto to Florida," continued Bonniksen. "Normally we only see them once or twice as they cross from space. We're now going to be able to see them multiple times a day."
According to Bonniksen, the information they obtain from CYGNSS will allow researchers to track growth patterns in the massive storms.
The mission is scheduled to launch November 22 from Cape Canaveral and could last anywhere from two to five years.