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26 June 2013: IRIS launch |
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16 April 2013: IRIS delivered
to Vandenberg Air Force Base. Movie
of IRIS (QT, 60 MB).
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April 2013: Flight
Operations Review (FOR) successfully passed |
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June 2012: System Integration
Review (SIR) successfully passed |
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March 2012: All invited talks from the meeting in Monterey are now online |
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January 2012: Mg II h/k data
from SMM/UVSP now online |
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December 2011: Mission
Operations Review (MOR) passed successfully |
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December, 2010: IRIS
successfully passes Critical Design Review (CDR). |
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May, 2010: IRIS
successfully passes Preliminary Design Review (PDR). |
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January, 2010: IRIS
successfully passes Systems Requirements Review (SRR). |
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June 19, 2009: NASA announces
selection of IRIS. |
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The primary goal of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) explorer is to understand how the solar atmosphere is energized. The IRIS investigation combines advanced numerical modeling with a high resolution UV imaging spectrograph.

IRIS will obtain UV spectra and images with high resolution in space (0.33-0.4 arcsec) and time (1s) focused on the chromosphere and transition region of the Sun, a complex interface region between the photosphere and corona. In this region, all but a few percent of the non-radiative energy leaving the Sun is converted into heat and radiation. Here, magnetic field and plasma exert comparable forces, resulting in a dynamic region whose understanding remains a challenge.
IRIS fills a crucial gap in our ability to advance Sun-Earth connection studies by tracing the flow of energy and plasma through this foundation of the corona and heliosphere.
IRIS is expected to be launched no earlier than end of
May 2013.
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| 12-16 March 2012: The first IRIS (together
with SDO and Hinode) science
workshop: "Dynamics and energetics of the coupled solar
atmosphere: the synergy between state-of-the-art
observations and numerical simulations" was held in Monterey, CA.
More details can be found at the meeting
website and all invited talks are now online. |
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| For further information on
the IRIS program, please contact Bart De Pontieu (bdp at
lmsal dot com) or Karel Schrijver (schryver at lmsal dot com). |
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