| SAGE III on ISS |
The SAGE III instrument is used to study ozone, a gas found in the upper atmosphere
that acts as Earth’s sunscreen. More than 25 years ago, scientists realized there
was a problem with Earth’s thin, protective coat of ozone...it was thinning.
The SAGE family of instruments was pivotal in making accurate measurements of the
amount of ozone loss in Earth's atmosphere. SAGE has also played a key role in
measuring the onset of ozone recovery resulting from the internationally mandated
policy changes that regulated chlorine-containing chemicals, the Montreal Protocol,
which was passed in 1987.
Today, the SAGE technique is still the best for the job, and NASA scientists are preparing to send
the third generation of the instrument into space. However, not just any spacecraft will do for SAGE III.
Scientists have been keeping it safe, waiting for the day that it could go where no continuous
Earth-observing instrument has gone before – the International Space Station (ISS).
Instead of flying on an un-manned satellite, SAGE III will be mounted to the ISS where it will operate
alongside experiments from all over the world in the space-based laboratory.
The orbital path of ISS will help maximize the scientific value of SAGE-III observations
while proving that atmospheric science instruments do have a place on the space station.
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| SAGE III on ISS Updates |
Mar. 28, 2012:
Nadir Viewing
Platform (NVP)
Subsystem Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
successfully completed.
Apr. 18, 2012:
Contamination Monitoring Package (CMP)
Subsystem PDR
successfully completed.
Next up:
May 4, 2012:
Interface Adaptor
Module (IAM)
Subsystem PDR
May 30-June 1, 2012:
Project PDR
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| Flight Status |
SAGE III is scheduled to board one of NASA's first commercial Space X flights in 2014 for a ride to its new home.
Once on ISS, SAGE III will do what it does best – Earth observations to extend a long record of atmospheric
measurements for the continued health of Earth and its inhabitants.
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