NASA's IRIS MissionInterface Region Imaging SpectrographThe Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a NASA Small Explorer Mission to observe how solar material moves, gathers energy, and heats up as it travels through a little-understood region in the sun's lower atmosphere. Tracking how material and energy move through this region is a crucial part of understanding the dynamics of the sun. Such information can help explain what causes the ejection of solar material — from the steady stream of the solar wind to larger, explosive eruptions such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — that travels toward Earth and causes space weather that can disrupt human technology. IRIS is scheduled for a May 28 launch aboard a Pegasus rocket. |
Artist's concept of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) satellite in orbit. |