NASA satellite to study secrets of the sun
Source: AFP |
June 29, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE US space agency has launched a satellite to unlock the secrets of the sun's lower atmosphere.
NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph - dubbed IRIS - was launched late on Thursday aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket off the California coast.
"We've got a very happy spacecraft on orbit and a thrilled launch team on the ground," NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn said in a post to the agency's blog shortly after launch.
The goal of the US$182 million mission - to last at least two years - is to observe the movement of solar material.
In particular it wants to see how it gathers energy and heats up as it makes its way through a mysterious region in the sun's lower atmosphere.
This region between the sun's photosphere and corona is where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated, which impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate, according to NASA.
IRIS will take high resolution photos of this region at intervals of several seconds. The mission could help explain what causes the ejection of solar material, including solar wind.
NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph - dubbed IRIS - was launched late on Thursday aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket off the California coast.
"We've got a very happy spacecraft on orbit and a thrilled launch team on the ground," NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn said in a post to the agency's blog shortly after launch.
The goal of the US$182 million mission - to last at least two years - is to observe the movement of solar material.
In particular it wants to see how it gathers energy and heats up as it makes its way through a mysterious region in the sun's lower atmosphere.
This region between the sun's photosphere and corona is where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated, which impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate, according to NASA.
IRIS will take high resolution photos of this region at intervals of several seconds. The mission could help explain what causes the ejection of solar material, including solar wind.
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