NASA Launches Satellite to Study How Sun's Atmosphere is Energized

June 27, 2013

Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

Susan M. Hendrix
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-7745
susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov

Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-0643
rachel.hoover@nasa.gov

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 13-192

NASA LAUNCHES SATELLITE TO STUDY HOW SUN'S ATMOSPHERE IS ENERGIZED

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
spacecraft launched Wednesday at 7:27 p.m. PDT (10:27 p.m. EDT) from
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The mission to study the solar
atmosphere was placed in orbit by an Orbital Sciences Corporation
Pegasus XL rocket.

"We are thrilled to add IRIS to the suite of NASA missions studying
the sun," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for
science in Washington. "IRIS will help scientists understand the
mysterious and energetic interface between the surface and corona of
the sun."

IRIS is a NASA Explorer Mission to observe how solar material moves,
gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a little-understood
region in the sun's lower atmosphere. This interface region between
the sun's photosphere and corona powers its dynamic million-degree
atmosphere and drives the solar wind. The interface region also is
where most of the sun's ultraviolet emission is generated. These
emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's
climate.

The Pegasus XL carrying IRIS was deployed from an Orbital L-1011
carrier aircraft over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 39,000
feet, off the central coast of California about 100 miles northwest
of Vandenberg. The rocket placed IRIS into a sun-synchronous polar
orbit that will allow it to make almost continuous solar observations
during its two-year mission.

The L-1011 took off from Vandenberg at 6:30 p.m. PDT and flew to the
drop point over the Pacific Ocean, where the aircraft released the
Pegasus XL from beneath its belly. The first stage ignited five
seconds later to carry IRIS into space. IRIS successfully separated
from the third stage of the Pegasus rocket at 7:40 p.m. At 8:05 p.m.,
the IRIS team confirmed the spacecraft had successfully deployed its
solar arrays, has power and has acquired the sun, indications that
all systems are operating as expected.

"Congratulations to the entire team on the successful development and
deployment of the IRIS mission," said IRIS project manager Gary
Kushner of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Atmospheric Laboratory in
Palo Alto, Calif. "Now that IRIS is in orbit, we can begin our 30-day
engineering checkout followed by a 30-day science checkout and
calibration period."

IRIS is expected to start science observations upon completion of its
60-day commissioning phase. During this phase the team will check
image quality and perform calibrations and other tests to ensure a
successful mission.

NASA's Explorer Program at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md., provides overall management of the IRIS mission. The principal
investigator institution is Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced
Technology Center. NASA's Ames Research Center will perform ground
commanding and flight operations and receive science data and
spacecraft telemetry.

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory designed the IRIS telescope.
The Norwegian Space Centre and NASA's Near Earth Network provide the
ground stations using antennas at Svalbard, Norway; Fairbanks,
Alaska; McMurdo, Antarctica; and Wallops Island, Va. NASA's Launch
Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is
responsible for the launch service procurement, including managing
the launch and countdown. Orbital Sciences Corporation provided the
L-1011 aircraft and Pegasus XL launch system.

For more information about the IRIS mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/iris


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