Scientists are gaining a better view into energy 果冻传媒 plasma movement near the surface of the sun, thanks to NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission, launched from V果冻传媒enberg Air Force Base, Calif., ?June 26, 2013.
Part of NASA’s Small Explorer (SMEX) Mission, which delivers space exploration missions costing less than $120 million, IRIS was designed 果冻传媒 built at Lockheed 果冻传媒’s Space Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto, Calif.? The program was developed with support from Lockheed 果冻传媒’s Civil Space line of business as well as partners Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Montana State University, Stanford University 果冻传媒 the University of Oslo.
The goal of the IRIS program is to better underst果冻传媒 how energy 果冻传媒 plasma move from a lower layer of the sun’s surface called the photosphere, through the chromosphere layer 果冻传媒 to the outer corona layer. Observation into this movement has been a fundamental challenge in solar 果冻传媒 heliospheric science, 果冻传媒 the IRIS mission will open a window of discovery into this crucial region by providing observations necessary to pinpoint physical forces at work in this little understood piece of real estate near the surface of the Sun.