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Excerpt:

The saildrones’ mission: a six-month, 8,000 nautical mile round-trip journey to the equator, where they will encounter the birth place of the weather phenomenon known as El Niño.

“Those start in the tropical Pacific but it’s a very remote location, it’s difficult to monitor,” explained Sabine.

The ultimate goal of this launch and journey: To help scientists better understand not only El Niño, but the world’s changing climate,

Onboard, not a single human being. Instead, the drones are each equipped with an amazing array of sensors.