TSIS-1

Launch data: Designation  17080 Launch date - time  15 Dec 2017 - 15:36 UT Launch site  CCK, SLC-40 Launch vehicle  Falcon-9 v1.2 Mission  ISS component: measure the sun's radiative input to Earth Destination location  ISS/ExPRESS Logistics Carrier #3, position #5. Attached date   Earth orbit attached on ISS: Perigee / Apogee   km Inclination   ° Period   min

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Platform   Operator  NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Mass at launch  363 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)  1.2 x 1.2 x 2.4 m Equipment   Solar array   Stabilization   Propulsion  None DC power   Design lifetime  5 yrs

Description:

• NASA′s Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-1, or TSIS-1, a mission to measure the sun′s radiative input to Earth, is currently scheduled to be launched in late 2017 to the International Space Station ExPRESS logistics carrier (ELC)-3. Various satellites have captured a continuous record of this solar energy input since 1978. TSIS-1 provides the next state-of-the-art set of measurements with unprecedented accuracy and precision, which are critical to study the sun′s natural influence on Earth′s ratiation, ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, and ecosystems. These observations are essential for accurate scientific understanding of solar variability and climate change.
• TSIS-1 makes two measurements: total solar irradiance, or TSI, the sun′s total energy input into Earth, and solar spectral irradiance, or SSI, the distribution of the sun′s ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light. TSI measurements are needed to establish Earth′s total energy input while SSI measurements help us understand how the atmosphere responds to changes in the sun′s output. TSIS-1 comprises two instruments to make these two measurements: the Total Irradiance Monitor, or TIM, and the Spectral Irradiance Monitor, or SIM, which are integrated into a single sensor payload system.
• The TIM and the SIM are significantly improved sensors over the ones on NASA′s Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment, or SORCE, mission launched in January 2003. The SIM measures solar spectral irradiance for 96 percent of the total solar energy, or TSI, that reaches Earth.
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is managing the project. The University of Colorado′s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics or LASP built both instruments. LASP will provide mission operations.
• Science Goals: Monitor the radiant energy from the Sun and how that energy is distributed over many wavelengths. TSIS-1 will provide the most accurate measurements of sunlight and continue the long-term climate data record
• Science Sensors: Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) and Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM) built by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder
• Mission Management: NASA′s Goddard Space Flight Center has overall responsibility for the development and operation of TSIS-1. Under contract with NASA, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, built TSIS-1 and gathers the science data. The Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center distributes the data to the scientific community.

External links:

• NASA Mission overview
• EOportal.org Module description