Think the Earth

On January 23, 12:54 - as all eyes, all over the world looked on, an H-2A rocket took off from the Tanegashima Space Center and "IBUKI," the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT), successfully began its space orbit. This satellite with the mission to observe how much carbon dioxide and methane gas the Earth emits or absorbs (or breathes in and out) was given the name "IBUKI" (meaning breath in Japanese). Actually, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions are only measured in 282 points around the world (as of October 16, 2008), and there was bias in the regions where the measurements were taken and in the way they were taken. But "IBUKI" will have 56,000 observation points and can gather data for the entire planet in 3 days. The highly dense and uniform data it will provide is expected to contribute significantly to improving the accuracy of global warming predictions.

In Japan, the data is to be jointly analyzed by the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Ministry of the Environment, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and such findings will be shared internationally. As we face daunting global warming issues, the whole world is eagerly waiting for the epoch-making data the satellite will provide. So let us hope that the data gathered will be safely delivered to the Earth after the 3-month period during which equipment will be checked to make sure it is functioning properly.