TROPICS Rocket Launch. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off Launch Complex 1, Pad B, in Māhia, New Zealand on May 8 at 1 New Zealand time (May 7 at 9 EDT), carrying two NASA CubeSats designed to study tropical cyclones, including hurricanes and typhoons. NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) CubeSats will provide data on temperature, precipitation, water vapor, and clouds by measuring microwave frequencies, providing insight into storm formation and intensification.

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Keywords: center, constellation, cyclone, electron, hurricanes, intensity, kennedy, ksc, lab, laboratory, launch, lincoln, lsp, mits, noaa, observations, precipitation, program, rocket, services, smallsats, space, storm, structure, time-resolved, tropics, vadr