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SDO L-1 Briefing
02.09.10
 
The Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is set to launch on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 10:26 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Launch Readiness Review was conducted Monday morning and the "go" was given to proceed, with no technical issues reported.

A prelaunch news conference will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by the mission science briefing. Both will be carried live on NASA TV. Live coverage of the launch will begin at 7:15 a.m. Wednesday on NASA TV and the launch blog.

SDO's unprecedented mission will study the sun and its dynamic behavior. Onboard telescopes will scrutinize sunspots and solar flares using more pixels and colors than any other observatory in the history of solar physics. And SDO will reveal the sun’s hidden secrets in a prodigious rush of pictures.


Images and Multimedia in Support of the Press Briefing


Presenter: Elizabeth Citrin, SDO Project Manager

Slide showing what SDO is designed to do Image: Slide describing what the Solar Dynamics Observatory is designed to do.
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Diagram of SDO and description of some instruments Image: Slide showing a labeled diagram of SDO with instrument descriptions.
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3 integration modules for SDO Image: Photograph of SDO's three integration modules.
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SDO spacecraft bus being lowered over the propulsion module Image: Photograph of SDO's spacecraft bus as it is lowered over the propulsion module.
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SDO and clean room technicians Image: Photograph of integrated SDO.
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SDO's Mission Operations Center at Goddard Image: Photograph of SDO Mission Control at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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18-meter antennas at SDO's dedicated ground station (White Sands, N.M.) Image: Photograph of 18-meter antennas at SDO's dedicated ground station in White Sands, N.M.
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SDO arrives at launch site by truck Image: Photograph of SDO arriving at the launch site processing facility by truck.
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SDO in a clean room at Astrotech Image: SDO undergoes processing at Astrotech, a commercial facility about 10 miles from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
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SDO encapsulated and mated to the rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility Image: SDO encapsulated and mated to the rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility close to the Atlas launch pad.
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Artist concept of SDO aboard its Atlas rocket Video: SDO launch animation.
› Watch video (8 MB mov)
› Watch video (76 MB mov)

Science Briefing Presenters

  • Madhulika Guhathakurta, SDO Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
  • Dean Pesnell, SDO Project Scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
  • Philip H. Scherrer, Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Principal Investigator, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.
  • Alan Title, Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) Principal Investigator, Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Palo Alto, Calif.
  • Tom Woods, Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) Principal Investigator, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.


Images and Multimedia in Support of the Science Briefing


Presenter: Madhulika Guhathakurta, SDO Program Scientist

depiction of Earth's magnetic field Video: A burst of fast material from the sun generates magnetic reconnection events in Earth's magnetic field. This eventually sends high-speed electrons and protons into Earth's upper atmosphere to form aurorae. Credit: NASA Goddard's Conceptual Image Lab
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› Watch movie (40 MB mov)
collage illustrating the Sun-Solar System connection Image: Sun-Solar System connection.
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3D Sun iPhone app images Image: New 3D Sun iPhone application available.
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For more information on the 3D Sun iPhone application, visit: http://www.3dsun.org/


Presenter: Dean Pesnell, SDO Project Scientist

Still of SDO spacecraft with instruments detailed Image: Still of SDO spacecraft with instruments labeled.
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Still of Ultrasound of Sun Image: Still of ultrasound sun.
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images of the sun Image: SOHO image showing gas at 1.5 million K (left). Temperatures of different gases represented in different colors (right).
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image of the sun Video: Video showing resolution comparison. SDO will dramatically increase our ability to collect data about the sun. This visualization compares the temporal and spatial resolution of SOHO/EIT with TRACE. SDO will enable TRACE-like image and temporal resolution over the entire solar disk.
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› More versions from Goddard's SVS
graph of solar irradiance values Image: Graph of solar irradiance values.
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screen shot of sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov Image: Screen shot of SDO Project Web site.
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› NASA's official SDO Web site (www.nasa.gov/sdo)
› SDO Project Web site (http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/)


Presenter: Philip H. Scherrer, Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Principal Investigator

The sun Video: Surface of the sun.
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A sunspot Video: View of a sunspot and the view beneath it.
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The sun Video: This sequence shows data from the last solar activity maximum.
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Presenter: Alan Title, Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) Principal Investigator

AIA briefing cover slide Slides: Slide show describing SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument.
› View slides (1.2 MB pdf)


Presenter: Tom Woods, Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) Principal Investigator

SDO's EVE instrument Image: The Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment.
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Artist concept of EVE installed on SDO Video: Animator's rendering of SDO showing location of EVE.
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image depicting current limitations of solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance measurement Image: Illustration of current limitations of measurements of the solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance.
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image depicting current limitations of solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance measurement (left) compared to projected coverage from SDO Image: Previous image with comparison to projected capabilities of SDO.
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various SDO logos Image: Various logos associated with SDO.
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