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The SMOS, the first European satellite project to have been led by Spain, has been launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia. The project went ahead after 16 years of work, thanks to cutting-edge technology designed by Spanish researchers and companies, who led this €300 million project under the umbrella of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The SMOS will provide data about the humidity of the Earth and the salinity of its oceans, data which have not been available to now, and which are key issues for understanding climate change.
The heart of the SMOS is MIRAS, a novel device designed by researchers from the Polytechnic of Catalonia (UPC) and built by a group of Spanish companies led by EADS CASA. It is an eight-meter long blade with three arms supporting 69 ‘eyes’ able to detect microwaves emitted by the Earth.
The SMOS will be the only satellite in the world that is able to measure ground humidity and ocean salinity. Spain and France provided two-thirds of the financing for the project, in which the other member countries of the European Space Agency also took part.
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11/2/09
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