The GOLD instrument, which is short for Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk,  is expected to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Coast by the end of the year. The �鶹ӳ����ý is leading the mission; the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado at Boulder designed and built the instrument.  LASP will also operate the instrument during its two-year mission.

The mission is possible due to a joint agreement with SES Government solutions, which will provide the launch. The mission is a first-of-its-kind partnership between a university and commercial spacecraft operator to enable a NASA science mission. Such an approach may usher in a new era of similar projects giving universities nationwide broader access to getting science research into space.

The GOLD instrument will fly aboard an SES-14 satellite as a hosted payload. Hosted payloads enable NASA to make use of commercial satellite platforms as a new avenue for relatively low-cost science opportunities in space, according to NASA.

The successful integration of the ultraviolet  instrument onto the SES-14 satellite this month marks a milestone as the team prepares for launch. Next, the instrument and satellite will undergo a series of environmental tests at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France, before being shipped to Florida for final launch preparations.

“Launch is almost within sight. The progress is exciting to see, and it’s getting even more exciting,” said Richard Eastes, GOLD principal investigator and �鶹ӳ����ý scientist. “Integration of the GOLD instrument has gone even better than I’d ever hoped. That’s a tremendous testament to the ability of the instrument and the satellite teams.”

GOLD is designed to capture never-before-seen images of the Earth’s thermosphere and ionosphere, detecting changes in temperature and composition due to space weather activity. This is a critical step in understanding how to predict the impact of space weather events on Earth.

Some of the most dramatic space weather originates on the sun with ejections of plasma and X-rays into space. When directed at the Earth, ensuing geomagnetic storms have the potential to interfere with radio communication and disrupt GPS satellites, impacting everything from airline travel to high-tech farming, satellite TV programming and cell phone connections.

The GOLD mission will make measurements from a longitude of 47.5ºW during its two years of prime mission operations. The satellite has a life expectancy of 15 years.

In addition to building the UV instrument the size of a microwave oven, the Colorado laboratory is providing project management, systems engineering, safety and mission assurance, instrument operations, and public outreach for the mission. Eastes, who is based at �鶹ӳ����ý’s Florida Space Institute, oversees the project and is building the data center that will process and disseminate GOLD science data.

GOLD is a mission of opportunity and part of NASA’s Explorer Program. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Explorer Program for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Explorer Program seeks to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for NASA heliophysics and astrophysics missions requiring small to mid-sized spacecraft.

Other members of the GOLD team include the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of California at Berkeley, Computational Physics Inc., and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The information collected by the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission will have a direct impact on understanding space weather – such as solar wind – and its impact on communication and navigation satellites, which we’ve come to rely on for everything from television programming to cell phone coverage and GPS in our vehicles.

The information may also lead to advances in directing airline traffic in a safer manner by providing a greater understanding of how space elements impact communication signals.

“It’s great to see something that my team and I have worked on for years selected for funding,” said Richard Eastes, a research scientist with �鶹ӳ����ý’s Florida Space Institute. “It shows that other scientists think what we’re planning to do is some of the most important science in the world. And for �鶹ӳ����ý, it’s a chance to demonstrate that the university can play a more significant role in space research. “

The project is a collaboration between �鶹ӳ����ý, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado, and the commercial satellite company SES Government Solutions. �鶹ӳ����ý will oversee the project and build the data center that will collect, process and distribute the data for the mission. LASP will build the compact instrument, which will operate in a geostationary orbit, and SES is scheduled to launch it on one of its communication satellites in 2017.

“It’s clear that NASA is interested in flying more instruments on commercial satellites,” Eastes said. “With today’s budgets, most science missions that need a geostationary orbit aren’t affordable unless they fly on a commercial satellite.”

GOLD’s collaborative approach may lead the way for similar projects at �鶹ӳ����ý and other universities nationwide.

“Building upon the success of the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload and innovative partnerships like the one we have with GOLD, we are extremely eager to blaze a new trail providing low-cost and timely opportunities for small- to medium-sized science payloads,” said Rich Pang, senior director for hosted payloads at SES Government Solutions.  “The selection of GOLD by NASA is a testament to the importance of the mission and the hard work and innovation of the entire GOLD team.  We are excited and proud to be selected as a mission partner.”

The scientific goals of the GOLD mission are to determine how geomagnetic storms alter the temperature and composition of Earth’s atmosphere; analyze the global response of the thermosphere to extreme ultraviolet variability; investigate the significance of atmospheric waves and tides propagating below the thermosphere; and resolve how the structure of the equatorial ionosphere influences the formation and evolution of plasma-density irregularities. The thermosphere is the part of the atmosphere that begins about 50 miles above the earth’s surface and extends to outer space.

Given the sophistication of the measurements needed, Eastes and his team turned to LASP to build the GOLD instrumentation. The lab has an international reputation for excellence and has been around since before NASA was formed.

Scientists at LASP are eager to start.

“GOLD’s imaging represents a new paradigm for observing the boundary between Earth and space,” said Bill McClintock, senior research scientist at LASP working on the project. “It will revolutionize our understanding of how the sun and the space environment affect our upper atmosphere.”

The five-year project will begin immediately. Once the design is finished and checked, rechecked and rechecked again, LASP will begin construction. After launch in 2017 the instruments will provide data to the team, and other scientists throughout the world, for at least two years. Eastes says the instruments will likely continue to function for an additional three to five years.

Other members of the GOLD team that will be supporting the mission include the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of California at Berkeley, Computational Physics Inc. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The selection fulfills the dream of two �鶹ӳ����ý scientists who have been researching solar weather – and its affects on our terrestrial technology – for more than five years.

If chosen, this project would be the first time �鶹ӳ����ý would lead a NASA science mission.

“There were some excited shouts from the team members this morning when I shared the news,” said Richard Eastes, the project’s lead scientist and an assistant professor. “I’m not used to hearing shouts from scientists. This is very rewarding. It’s confirmation that some of the best scientists in the world think that our mission is at the forefront of science in the field.”

Eastes, along with his colleague Andrey Krywonos, have designed a specialized instrument that would help predict and prevent GPS and cell phone blackouts related to solar weather.

Today’s announcement means that �鶹ӳ����ý’s team was one of five selected from 20 proposals to receive $250,000 toward its work. The team would then present its concept study to NASA, vying for $55 million to develop a launch-ready project by 2016.

NASA is interested in the project because the data collected would be first of its kind, and it would help explain how earth’s space environment responds to the sun’s activities, such as solar flares.

Solar flares change the composition and temperature of the atmosphere around the earth and can damage military and commercial satellites, including those that help deliver television or cell phone signals.

And because the Federal Aviation Administration is moving toward monitoring air traffic through sophisticated GPS systems, accurate forecasts of space weather will be critical to prevent blackouts that could lead to aviation accidents.

“Space weather can be very dramatic,” Eastes said. “We just don’t hear a lot about it because, frankly, it’s in space. But it does have an impact on earth.”

The �鶹ӳ����ý team’s specially designed imager, the Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk — or GOLD for short — will record images of ultraviolet light emitted by the atmosphere about 62 miles above the earth’s surface.

Measurements will be made from a satellite orbiting in sync with Earth, meaning data can be continuously collected across the same, complete hemisphere throughout the day.The data will give scientists a clear picture of how the temperature and composition in the uppermost portions of the atmosphere respond to various influences, such as changes in the sun’s behavior.

Eastes and Krywonos, who conduct research at �鶹ӳ����ý’s Florida Space Institute at Kennedy Space Center, have been working on the project since 2005.

NASA’s Explorers program aims to provide frequent flight opportunities for scientific investigations from space.

These investigations have led to important information in the past, including knowledge about Earth’s magnetosphere and the shape of its gravity field; the solar wind; and properties of micrometeoroids raining down on Earth, among other discoveries.

More about NASA’s program is available at .

Eastes joined �鶹ӳ����ý in 2001. He has master’s and doctoral degrees in Physics from Johns Hopkins University, home of the Space Telescope Science Institute. Before coming to �鶹ӳ����ý, Eastes worked at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Krywonos received his Ph.D. in Optics from �鶹ӳ����ý in 2006.  He joined the Florida Space Institute that year as a post-doctoral researcher, and he is currently a research scientist at the Florida Space Institute.