SORCE Spacecraft To Be Launched January 25

	Early this week, technicians on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., worked to attach the Pegasus XL launch vehicle and Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) to the L-1011 aircraft. The L-1011 will carry the Pegasus to the launch altitude of 39,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean.

The launch of the NASA-sponsored Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) spacecraft aboard an Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) air-launched Pegasus vehicle is scheduled for deployment over the Atlantic Ocean from OSC's L-1011 carrier aircraft on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 3:14 p.m. EST. This time is contained within a launch window that opens at 3:10 p.m. and closes at 4:08 p.m. EST.

Employees can view the launch in the Building 8 auditorium, doors open at 2:30 p.m. A webcast of the launch is available at http://www.ksc.nasa.gov

The launch begins with the drop of the Pegasus rocket from the L-1011 over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of 39,000 feet at a location approximately 100 miles offshore east-southeast from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The launch is expected to be visible from the coast. Spacecraft separation from the Pegasus occurs approximately 10 minutes later. At that time the satellite will be in an orbit of 400 statute miles at a 40-degree inclination, orbiting the earth 15 times each day.

SORCE is a NASA Earth Science mission that will examine the roll of the Sun's energy in climate change, information vital for our understanding and protection of our home planet. The satellite will provide state-of-the-art measurements of incoming X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation.

The measurements provided by SORCE address long-term climate change, climate prediction, atmospheric ozone and ultraviolet-B radiation. These measurements are critical to studies of the Sun, its effect on our Earth system and influence on humankind.

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado is responsible for the overall program management of SORCE. Goddard provides the management, oversight and engineering support for the spacecraft. LASP built, calibrated, and tested the SORCE instruments and subcontracted to Orbital Sciences Corporation for the spacecraft bus and integration of the five instruments. "We are very excited as we near our launch date." said Bill Ochs, SORCE Project Manager at Goddard. "This mission has been a tremendous team effort between the University of Colorado, NASA, and Orbital Sciences Corporation," he said.

For more information on the SORCE project, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2003/0106sorce.html