A “space weather” satellite with scientific objectives and instruments originally proposed and designed by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography finally headed into space Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Deep-Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR, will observe Earth from a vantage point 932,000 miles away known as the L-1 Lagrangian point, where a satellite remains fixed between the sun and the Earth, providing a constant view of the entire sunlit portion of Earth.
The $340 million mission was originally scheduled to begin Sunday, but was postponed twice, first because of a problem with tracking radar and then because of weather at the launch site in Florida. SpaceX confirmed that Wednesday’s launch was successful and that the spacecraft was on its way to L-1.
The successful launch comes after a very long wait. The satellite was completed in 2001, but put into storage because of a lack of funding and a suitable rocket to carry it. There was also a political dimension. The satellite had been conceived by Vice President Al Gore, and it was ridiculed by Republican lawmakers as “GoreSat.” Finally, in 2012, the mission was given a go-ahead.
The satellite and its mission were championed throughout the long period by Scripps Distinguished Research Scientist Emeritus Francisco Valero
The principal mission of the satellite is to measure space weather. A suite of instruments will observe solar flares, solar wind, and the Sun’s magnetic field variations during solar flare activity. These phenomena can disrupt a wide variety of processes on Earth, from satellite communications and control to electrical distribution systems.
The Scripps instruments will also measure the solar energy reflected back to space by Earth as well as the infrared radiation emitted by the planet. Such observations are essential to determine Earth’s energy budget, which is the fundamental driver of climate.
“DSCOVR was ahead of its time and still is,” said Charles Kennel, who was director of Scripps when the institution’s involvement with the project first began.
“Even 17 years on, it provides a unique capability to study the earth’s radiation balance, the source of all climate change. And there is a practical bonus. DSCOVR’s orbit upstream of Earth in the solar wind enables detection of solar magnetic storms before they hit the earth. DSCOVR provides early warning of telecommunication and satellite outages.”
“Most of all, DSCOVR is a story of a man and an idea, of Francisco Valero, who never lost sight of a grand scientific vision and never gave up,” Kennel added.
