EVE Calibration Rocket, May 3, 2023, Streaming on NASA TV

All is Go for the launch of the SDO EVE calibration rocket (NASA #36.389) on May 3. The EVE Team has approvals from NASA, WSMR (White Sands Missile Range, where the flight will occur), and the Navy (who run the launch pad) for a launch window of 18:10-18:40 UTC (2:30 PM - 2:40 PM ET). The weather forecast for White Sands, NM, is also looking good.

The EVE sounding rocket used to calibrate the SDO EVE instrument launches from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in 2015. (Image courtesy LASP.)

NASA TV will stream the launch starting at 11:45 AM MDT (1:45 pm ET) at the link https://video.ibm.com/channel/nasa-tv-wallops.

Enjoy!

Congratulations to the EVE Team!

NASA 36.353 sounding rocket flight to calibrate SDO EVE and several other satellite instruments was a great success. Hre's the proof, exposures from both the MEGS-A and MEGS-B CCDs in the calibration EVE. The top image is from the MEGS-A CCD with MEGS-A1 spectrum on top and MEGS-A2 spectrum and MEGS-SAM X-ray image on the bottom. The bottom CCD image is the MEGS-B spectrum that goes diagonally across the CCD. The bright (yellow and red) vertical stripes are the spectral lines of the Sun that EVE studies. Just seeing these spectral lines means our Sun has a magnetic field. Without the magnetic field this part of the spectrum would be empty.

I can't wait to see the movie.

Congratulations to the EVE for a successful flight!

Congratulations to the EVE on a Successful Launch

The EVE team from LASP launched their calibration instrument over White Sands today at 1 pm MT (3 pm ET). They got about 10 minutes of data and the payload was parachuting to the ground.

Congratulations!

EVE Calibration Rocket Flies Above New Mexico

On Wednesday, June 1, 2016, the EVE calibration rocket flew high above the New Mexican desert. The instruments all returned good data and the payload was recovered for another flight in a couple of years.

Congratulations to the EVE team for re-flying the payload after last year's lunch problems. Thanks to the Wallops flight crew and the White Sands Missile Range personnel who actually do the launch and recovery.

SDO/EVE Calibration Rocket Did Not Follow Planned Trajectory

The SDO EVE calibration rocket was cut down by range safety about 16 seconds after launch. The rocket did not fly the planned trajectory and was cut down when it appeared that it could fly out of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The payload was recovered and will be prepared to fly again. The reflight could be as soon as next year.

Launching a Sounding Rocket to Help Calibrate NASA's SDO

Tomorrow at high noon Mountain Time, the SDO EVE calibration sounding rocket will launch from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It is only 15 minutes of flight with 5 minutes of solar viewing, but we use that data to calibrate the EVE and AIA instruments on SDO. The wavelengths of light these instrument measure can't be measured from the ground. Every 2 years or so we send a copy of the EVE instrument to make the same measurements as the flight instrument that orbits the Earth. The two measurements should agree and where they don't, the on-orbit instrument data is adjusted.

More details are in the SDO EVE Calibration rocket rocket article on SpaceRef or the SDO NASA webpage.

Congratulations EVE Team

Congratulations to Tom Woods and the EVE science team for flying another calibration rocket into space!

NASA successfully launched a Black Brant IX sounding rocket at 2 p.m. ET from the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., carrying instrumentation to help calibrate the EUV Variability Experiment, or EVE, aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, satellite. The project scientist Tom Woods, from the University of Colorado at Boulder, confirmed that good data was received during the flight.

EVE measures the total extreme ultraviolet output of the sun, called its spectral  irradiance. As part of the SDO/EVE program, the rocket calibration flight occurs about once a year to accurately determine the long-term variations of the solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance. This kind of calibration is known as an under-flight. It uses a near-replica of the SDO/EVE instrument to gather a calibrated sounding rocket observation in coordination with the orbital satellite's observations. Comparison of the two data sets then validates the accuracy of the SDO/EVE data, providing crucial calibration of any long-term changes in the orbital instrumentation. This will be the fourth under-flight calibration for the EVE instrument. The previous flight was successfully conducted on June 23, 2012.

EVE Rocket Launch scheduled for June 23

The next launch of the EVE underflight calibration sounding rocket payload is planned for June 23, 2012 at 13:00 MDT (window 13:00 - 13:30 MDT) (3:00pm EDT) from the White Sands Missile Range. This flight's primary purpose is to provide the third underflight calibration for the SDO EVE satellite instrument.  Good luck to the EVE time for another successful flight!  [UPDATE:  The launch and recovery went well, and all of the measurements appear to have been successful.  Congratulations!]

 See movies of the last EVE underflight

SDO EVE Calibration Rocket Launched

The SDO EVE calibration rocket flight today was very successful. We launched on time (11:50 MDT, 17:50 UT) and all the rocket and flight SDO quick-look data look excellent. Thanks for all those at WSMR, NASA, NSROC, and LASP for supporting this successful mission !

Congratulation to Tom and the EVE Science Team for a successful launch!

SDO EVE Calibration Rocket Scheduled for Next Week

There are 3 launch dates reserved next week for the SDO EVE Calibration Rocket (NASA 36.275). The weather forecasts are for unacceptably high winds on Monday March 21, but acceptable winds on Tue March 22 and Wed March 23. We plan to decide tomorrow (Thur 3/17) on whether we’ll give up the range for March 21 and only try for launches on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The launch window is 11:50 AM - 12:20 AM MDT (17:50 - 18:20 UT) for all three days.

SDO/EVE Calibration Rocket Delayed

White Sands Missile Range has notified the EVE team that their calibration rocket is now delayed. The team will safe the payload and return to Boulder to await a new launch date.

SDO/EVE calibration rocket scrubbed for today

From the EVE team on status of the SDO/EVE underflight calibration rocket for today:

"Winds aloft have been steady and have been in red condition since getting here. WSMR has scrubbed the launch for today. Backup dates being discussed (Friday Feb 25 and Wednesday Mar 2 seem to be candidates at this time)."

(Updated March 23, 3:00pm ET): Launch has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 2

You can keep track of the status at the LASP Rocket website.

SDO Calibration Rocket, February 23, 2011

The next launch of our EVE calibration payload is on NASA sounding rocket 36.275 planned for February 23, 2011 from the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). This flight will provide the second underflight calibration for the SDO EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) instrument. The first calibration rocket flew on May 3, 2010 (NASA 36.258, the Black Brant rocket is shown "on the rail" at left).

The launch window is from 11:20-11:50 MST. This is near local noon to minimize the atmospheric absorption of the solar EUV radiation observed during the rocket flight. Unlike the TIMED rockets, where SEE had to also be turned on, EVE is taking data all the time.

More information is at the LASP Rocket webpage.

Due to security regulations, we cannot provide realtime coverage of the launch.