NASA's SORCE Spacecraft Arrives at Launch Site

In the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility at KSC, workers unpack the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) spacecraft. SORCE arrived at Kennedy Space Center Oct. 26 to begin final processing.

The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) was shipped to Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on October 25 to begin launch preparations. The spacecraft left Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, Va., on the 25th and arrived at Kennedy Space Center on October 26 for final tests and integration with a Pegasus XL rocket for launch this winter.

"This is a major milestone in our mission and now we look forward to launch preparations," said Bill Ochs, SORCE Project Manager at Goddard. "This mission serves as an example of how NASA, universities, and industry can partner together and create successful science missions."

SORCE is a small free-flying satellite carrying four scientific instruments to measure the solar radiation incident at the top of the Earth's atmosphere. The four instruments include the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), the Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM), Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) and the Extreme Ultraviolet Photometer System (XPS). TIM, SIM and SOLSTICE will measure solar irradiance and the solar spectrum to help scientists understand the Sun's role in climate change. The XPS will measure high-energy radiation from the Sun.

For the complete article, go to: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/news-
release/releases/2002/02-152.htm