Multimedia

SORCE Animation – 9.61 Mb
An Earth Science Enterprise mission, SORCE will be focusing on the sun. With four instruments, it will orbit Earch 15 itmes a day and measure the Sun’s radiative output (also called Total Solar Irradiance) & analyze the Sun’s energy in visible color, as well as ultraviolet & infrared wavelengths that can be used to determine solar heating of Earth’s oceans, ice, land & absorbing layers of the atmosphere.

Atmosphere – 10.7 Mb
Only 1% of the TSI is absorbed by the upper atmosphere – mostly UV radiation absorbed by stratospheric ozone. About 20 – 24% heads into the lower atmosphere (troposphere) and is absorbed by waver vapor, trace gases, clouds and darker aerosols. The remaining 46 – 50% of visible light penetrates the atmosphere and is absorbed by the land and the oceans.

Complete Solar Cycle – 21.4 Mb
The Sun’s output fluctuates daily, but science concentrates on the 11-year sunspot cycle. Over the cycle the number of sunspots and associated faculae (bright regions on the Sun’s surface which usually form before sunspots appear) observed range from a max 200 spots per month to as few as a dozen per month during minimum.

Spacecraft to IM Mate – 4.28 Mb
SORCE scientists can be seen mating the SORCE instruments to the spacecraft’s Instrument Module (IM).

Pegasus Launch – 22.7 Mb
A short video discussing Orbital’s unique launch vehicle system – The Pegasus. This is the launch vehicle that SORCE will use when it launches.

Global – 9.25 Mb
What happens when solar irradiance reaches Earth? Only about 70% of the energy that reaches Earth is absorbed, while the other 30% is reflected back into space by atmosphere and aerosols, ocean/land and clouds, as seen in this animation.

Atmosphere Radiation – 2.77 Mb
This is another animation depicting the way radiation is absorbed and reflected by the Earth

SORCE Reporter Package – 1:00min – 20 Mb

Introduction – 12.3 Mb

Take Off – 45.1 Mb

Go for the Launch – 6.69 Mb

The Launch – 177 Mb