IPO News Archive

02/05/2003 — The six test instruments which comprised the "FREESTAR" payload on board the Space Shuttle Columbia included a Shuttle Ozone Limb Scattering Experiment / Limb Ozone Retrieval Experiment (SOLSE/LORE aka SOLSE-2), which was risk reduction for a component of the NPOESS Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS). The SOLSE/LORE data collected on January 19, 20, 21, 24, 27 and 30 is presumed to be lost. This data would have been used to validate the measuring technique used by the limb. The NPOESS Risk Reduction plan for OMPS will now rely upon it's flight on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) in 2006.

Although not a formal part of NPOESS risk reduction plan, two additional FREESTAR instruments were of interest to the program — MEIDEX which measured desert aerosols and SOLCON-3 which measured solar constant and solar cycle variations.

    Information about the mission inquiry and payloads
    SOLCE/LORE specific information