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

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

RELEASE: 10-13

NASA'S NEWEST SOLAR SATELLITE ARRIVES AT VANDENBERG AFB FOR LAUNCH

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
satellite arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on
Tuesday, April 16, to begin its final preparations for launch,
currently scheduled no earlier than May 28. IRIS will improve our
understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels
of the sun's atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast
space weather.

Following final checkouts, the IRIS spacecraft will be placed inside
an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket. Deployment of the Pegasus from
the L-1011 carrier aircraft is targeted for 7:27 p.m. PDT at an
altitude of 39,000 feet at a location over the Pacific Ocean about
100 miles northwest of Vandenberg AFB off the central coast of
California south of Big Sur.

"IRIS will contribute significantly to our understanding of the
interface region between the sun's photosphere and corona," said Joe
Davila, IRIS mission scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md. "This region is crucial for understanding how the
corona gets so hot."

IRIS carries a single instrument, a multichannel imaging spectrograph
with an ultraviolet (UV) telescope that will help scientists better
understand the physical processes in the sun's interface region.

"With the high-resolution images from IRIS, scientists will be able to
use advanced computer models to unravel how matter, light and energy
move from the sun's 6,000 Kelvin surface to its million Kelvin
corona," said Eric Ianson, IRIS mission manager at NASA Goddard.
"Scientists will be able to combine data from NASA's IRIS and Solar
Dynamics Observatory and the NASA/JAXA Hinode missions to obtain a
more comprehensive understanding of the sun's atmosphere."

IRIS is a NASA Small Explorer mission. The program provides frequent
flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from
space using innovative, streamlined and efficient management
approaches within the heliophysics and astrophysics areas.

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is
responsible for launch management. Lockheed Martin's Advanced
Technology Center Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto,
Calif., designed and built the IRIS spacecraft and instrument. NASA's
Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., is responsible for
mission operations and ground data systems.

For more information about the IRIS mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/iris