Summary

Description	5,4,3,2,1: We have ignition and we have liftoff of NASA's Aura spacecraft. In the early morning hours of July 14, 2004, a revolutionary satellite reached orbit and gave scientists a powerful new tool in protecting the Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Aura satellite made it through 2 scrubbed launch attempts to successfully lift off on the third try. Aura is the most advanced satellite ever designed to study's the Earth's atmosphere. The spacecraft will look at the chemistry of the air we breathe, specifically, the small fraction of air that's made up of trace gases such as ozone and aerosols. Humans are responsible for creating some of these gases, so we're also responsible for knowing what kind of affect they have on the future health of our planet. 'Aura has an instrument called the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer which is cutting edge.' Aura is now part of the A-Train, a group of Earth observing satellites that work together to get a more comprehensive picture of our world. F
Date	2004-07-23
Source	images.nasa.gov

Licensing

Public Domain (US Government Work)