University of Colorado Conducting Experiments in Space

Two University of Colorado based experiments will be launched in May aboard NASA rockets from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The first experiment, called EVE for Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, is scheduled for a May 3 launch and will support measurements by the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite. EVE is headed by Dr. Thomas Woods of the University of Colorado Boulder and will provide flight calibration for the EVE instrument on the SDO satellite that was launched Feb. 11, 2010. The data gathered will allow engineers and scientists to calibrate the instruments aboard the SDO. Another experiment called DICE, for Diffuse Interstellar Cloud Experiment, is scheduled to launch May 16 and will sample interstellar gas.

DICE, headed by Dr. James Green of the University of Colorado at Boulder, will study conditions of an interstellar gas bubble in nearby space to determine whether gas is flowing into or away from the gas bubble.

Both experiments will be launched on NASA Black Brant IX two stage, solid fueled, suborbital sounding rockets. EVE will reach an apogee of approximately 175 miles altitude and DICE will fly to approximately 202 miles altitude.

NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program is managed at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Information on the NASA Sounding Rocket Program is available on the Internet at: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code810

Information on the EVE is available on the Internet at: http://lasp.colorado.edu/eve/