The launch of NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to the study of carbon dioxide is slated for Feb. 24, the space agency said Tuesday.

The launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory is set for 1:51:30 a.m. PST (0951 GMT) during a 4-and-a-half-minute launch window. The observatory will launch into a 438-mile (705-km) orbit and then map the earth once every 16 days for at least two years.

The observatory's space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide will provide the first complete picture of both human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions, NASA said.

The measurements also will show just where carbon dioxide is pulled out of the atmosphere and stored.

NASA said data from the observatory will reduce uncertainties in forecasts of how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere and will improve the accuracy of global climate change predictions.

Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2009)