NASA launches new climate mission to study ocean, atmosphere

NASA launched a new satellite mission into orbit early Thursday to study ocean health, air quality and the effects of a changing climate for the benefit of humanity. Ocean Ecosystem satellite (PACE) was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1:33 a.m.

Eastern Time on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA confirmed signal acquisition from the satellite about five minutes after launch, and the spacecraft was performing as expected.

According to NASA, the PACE mission will study the impact of tiny, often invisible things -- microscopic life in water and microscopic particles in the air from hundreds of miles above Earth.