• The Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission launches Friday.
• SWOT is a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES.
• The project will measure freshwater and oceanic water levels on 90% of Earth.

The first mission of its kind to investigate nearly all of the water that covers the surface of the Earth has now gotten under way.

On Friday at 6:46 a.m. ET, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, or SWOT, blasted out from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

At 6:54 a.m. ET, the rocket’s first stage successfully touched down again on Earth. At 6 a.m. ET, live broadcast started on the NASA website.

The mission, a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales, will measure the height of water in freshwater and oceanic bodies of water as well as on more than 90% of the world’s surface.

The next phase in their relationship, after working together for years to monitor Earth’s oceans, is SWOT.

SWOT’s data will reveal how oceans affect climate change as well as how global warming affects reservoirs, lakes, rivers, and rivers.

Communities may better plan for flooding and other water-related calamities, which are becoming more frequent as a result of the climate problem, by using the satellite data.

Water is essential for the survival of life on Earth, but it also affects our weather and climate by storing and transferring the heat and carbon that greenhouse gas emissions trap in the atmosphere.

By evaluating the key sources, how these sources are changing, and the effects that will have on various environments, scientists can better comprehend the global water budget.

Also Read

NASA set to take first global water survey from space

The first-ever comprehensive survey of the world's oceans, lakes, and rivers. The...