NASA's SORCE Continues to Operate Successfully

	Image of SORCE in atomsphere

At 397 miles (640 kilometers) above the Earth, the SORCE satellite is helping scientists with the understanding and prediction from the effect of the Sun's radiation on the Earth's atmosphere and climate, its effect on our Earth system as well as its influence on humankind.

The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment was successfully launched on January 25, 2003 from aboard a Pegasus XL rocket. The mission's success continued with the completion of check out and commissioning. Normal operations commenced on February 26 when the instruments on-board SORCE began making daily solar observations. Data are received two times each day through ground stations at Wallops Island, Virginia and Santiago, Chile. The instruments and spacecraft continue to meet or exceed requirements. Preliminary data has already been released to the climate community and to the general public.

This mission was a joint partnership between NASA and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado. The mission was a principal investigator led mission with NASA providing management and scientific oversight and engineering support. Scientists and engineers at the University of Colorado designed, built, calibrated and tested the four science instruments on the spacecraft. The University subcontracted with Orbital Sciences Corporation for the spacecraft and observatory integration and testing. The Mission Operations Center and the Science Operations Center are both located at the University. The University will operate the spacecraft over its five-year mission life and is responsible for the acquisition, management, processing and distribution of the science data. Management of SORCE operations will transition to the Earth Science Mission Operations office at Goddard on June 9th.

"SORCE is a wonderful example of how NASA, universities and industry can partner together," said Bill Ochs, SORCE Project Manager. "Management and engineers from all organizations (including both GSFC and KSC) worked together as a true team to build a successful mission. In addition, the student involvement from the University of Colorado in the instrument development and mission operations provides a great training ground for the aerospace engineers of the future."

The SORCE mission illustrates how NASA is fulfilling its vision of "improving life here," by the gaining an understanding of the sun, scientists can better understand mankind's roles in climate change. SORCE is a key component of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) program. SORCE will address long-term climate change, natural variability and enhanced climate prediction, and atmospheric ozone and UV-B radiation, measurements that are critical to studies of the Sun; its effect on our Earth system; and its influence on humankind.

For more information on SORCE see: http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce