Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment was a NASA Earth Observing System mission led and operated by the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Its four instruments measured total solar irradiance and the Sun's spectral energy from X-rays through the near infrared, building climate-quality records of how solar output varies over days, rotations, and solar cycles.
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Identity
- Aliases
- SORCE2003-004A
- Name
- Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
- Slug
- solar-radiation-and-climate-experiment
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment was a NASA Earth Observing System mission led and operated by the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Its four instruments measured total solar irradiance and the Sun's spectral energy from X-rays through the near infrared, building climate-quality records of how solar output varies over days, rotations, and solar cycles.
- End Date
- 2020-02-25
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- SORCE operated for more than seventeen years, far beyond its planned five-year mission, and observed two solar-cycle minima. Its stable total and spectral irradiance measurements became important inputs to climate, atmospheric-energy-balance, and remote-sensing models. After overlapping with the successor TSIS-1 record, the team deliberately passivated SORCE on February 25, 2020.
- Program
- Earth Observing System
- Start Date
- 2003-01-25
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sorce/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 18, 2026 at 16:27:05 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 18, 2026 at 16:27:05 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles