Hong Kong-built greenhouse gas tracker device ‘functioning well’ on space station

A greenhouse gas monitoring instrument developed by a university in Hong Kong is operating successfully aboard Tiangong space station and is expected to contribute to sustainable development, the city’s technology minister has said.

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industries Sun Dong also revealed more details on Saturday about the life of the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, who he said had a tight schedule at the space station.

In his web blog, Sun said the Multi‑Spectral Imaging Carbon Observatory (MUSICO), developed by a team led by scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and funded by the city government, had been deployed to China’s Tiangong space station.

“The four sensors of MUSICO to detect carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen and aerosol had successfully captured images with good clarity and were functioning well,” he said.

“The device will provide automatic, controllable and highly accurate greenhouse gas – carbon dioxide and methane – emission monitoring data in the coming two years or even longer, contributing to the world’s response to climate change and sustainable development.”

MUSICO is considered the world’s first lightweight, high-resolution, high-precision synergistic observatory for the two gases.