Today’s Video: Zoom

On Thursday a rocket is scheduled to take off carrying the "Aquarius/SAC-D" satellite into space as part of a collaborative effort between the U.S. and Argentine space agencies. The aim of the satellite is to measure the levels of salt in the world's oceans. The importance of the Aquarius project, as one of the team's researchers told MercoPress, cannot be understated:

“Salinity is the glue that bonds two major components of Earth's complex climate system: ocean circulation and the global water cycle,” said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth & Space Research in Seattle. “Aquarius will map global variations in salinity in unprecedented detail, leading to new discoveries that will improve our ability to predict future climate.”

Researchers hope that in a few months the equipment on the "Aquarius/SAC-D" satellite can update 125 years of data obtained by ships and buoys.

The project has generated plenty of excitement among members of CONAE, Argentina's space agency. "We may come from different places, but we all talk the same language. And it isn't English - it's science," said CONAE investigator Sandra Torrusio to the Space Daily.

For more on the Aquarius project and the progress made by Argentine scientists check out the following video from GlobalPost:

By the way, the title to this post was inspired by this song from seminal Argentine rockeros Soda Stereo.

Online Sources - MercoPress, Space Daily, Boston Globe
Video Source - GlobalPost, YouTube