MiRaTa
MiRaTa

MiRaTA -- the Microwave Radiometer Technology Acceleration mission -- is scheduled to launch into space with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Joint Polar Satellite System-1. MiRaTA packs many of the capabilities of a large weather satellite into a spacecraft the size of a shoebox, according to Principal Investigator Kerri Cahoy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. MiRaTA's miniature sensors will collect data on temperature, water vapor and cloud ice that can be used in weather forecasting and storm tracking.