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Student Satellite to Study the Sun and Earth's Atmosphere

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                February 3, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1727)

Susan Hendrix
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/286-7745)

RELEASE:  98-20

STUDENT SATELLITE TO STUDY THE SUN AND EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE 

       The first in a new class of inexpensive, student-built 
space missions funded by NASA is scheduled for launch Feb. 5 
from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.  The mission, the Student 
Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE), will investigate the effects of 
energy from both the Sun and the magnetosphere on nitric oxide 
densities in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

       "This new class of missions allows universities and 
graduate students to plan, build and fly science satellites for 
low Earth orbit applications," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, 
Jr., NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA 
Headquarters, Washington, DC.  "As NASA looks for more 
innovative ways to provide lower-cost access to space for 
scientists, we're also committed to providing first-rate 
opportunities for the next generation of scientists, now in 
graduate school, to get involved in flying their investigations 
in space.  The three missions under this program are a 
precursor to our University Explorer program of student-built 
missions, the first of which will be selected later this year."

       The Student Nitric Oxide Explorer spacecraft was 
designed, built, and will be operated by the University of 
Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in 
Boulder.  SNOE is the first of three student satellite projects 
selected to be built under the Student Explorer Demonstration 
Initiative (STEDI) program.

       The spacecraft will be launched into orbit by a Pegasus 
XL rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, VA.  A 
Lockheed L-1011 aircraft will carry the Pegasus to an altitude 
of 39,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean prior to its release.  
The Pegasus XL then will free-fall in a horizontal position for 
five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor.  The 
aircraft is scheduled to depart from Vandenberg at 1 a.m. EST, 
with the drop planned for approximately 2:04 a.m. EST.

        The 254-pound SNOE spacecraft will carry three 
instruments:  an ultraviolet spectrometer to measure nitric 
oxide altitude profiles; a five-channel solar soft X-ray 
photometer; and a two-channel auroral photometer that will 
measure auroral emissions beneath the spacecraft. 

       Funded by NASA and managed by the Universities Space 
Research Association's (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute in 
Houston, TX, STEDI is a pilot program designed to assess the 
effectiveness of small, low-cost space flight missions.  The 
SNOE project was selected in response to an Announcement of 
Opportunity issued by USRA.  Total cost of the mission is $12 
million, including launch costs.  

       "The SNOE team has done a marvelous piece of work in 
reaching this milestone on the road to their scientific payoff 
in orbit," said Dr. Paul Coleman, president of the USRA.  "We 
at USRA could not be more grateful to NASA for the opportunity 
to demonstrate that teams like Professor Barth's (the 
University of Colorado principal investigator) can design, 
fabricate, and assemble a sophisticated scientific satellite on 
schedule and on budget, while providing outstanding educational 
opportunities for young engineers and scientists." 

       Under the Cooperative Agreement signed in 1994, which 
established the STEDI program, NASA is responsible for 
selecting and procuring the launch vehicle, tracking and data 
acquisition activities, technical assistance in support of the 
selection process as needed, and approval of the final 
selection.  The Universities Space Research Association is 
responsible for general oversight of the program, evaluation of 
space flight proposals, conducting critical design and mission 
readiness reviews, and final program review reports to NASA 
upon conclusion of the missions.  

       NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 
manages the agency's responsibilities under the STEDI program 
for the Office of Space Science.

       Information pertaining to SNOE is available on the 
Internet at the following URL:  

              http://lasp.colorado.edu/snoe/

       Information from USRA on the STEDI program is available at:  

          http://www.usra.edu/  under "programs" 

                            -end-