NOAA

Dryer and hotter weather worldwide, but specifically in Canada, has caused a crazy wildfire season, and they’re only one month into it. The fires have caused extensive damage, evacuations, and smoke… so much smoke. That smoke has covered the northern parts of the United States and has even been seen by satellites in space.

An underwater volcano located near the Tonga Islands recently became active. Early this morning, a major eruption took place. Multiple satellites captured it as it happened.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from its west coast launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday. The mission included a scientific payload for NASA, NOAA, and ESA called Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. “The spacecraft is named after Dr. Michael Freilich, the former director of NASA’s Earth Science Division and a tireless advocate for advancing satellite measurements of the ocean,” according to NASA.

On this day, back in 2017, the NOAA’s JPSS-1 satellite was launched into orbit onboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Once the satellite reached polar orbit, its official name was changed to NOAA-20 in order to maintain the NOAA’s consistent naming conventions.