2.7.1 spase://SMWG/Observatory/IRIS Observatory Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) 2013-033A 2026-07-20T16:22:46Z 2019-05-05T12:34:56Z Only known prior ReleaseDate of the metadata 2026-04-09T00:08:46Z Fixed ObservatoryRegion; Updated Contact and InfomationURL 2026-07-20T16:22:46Z Added HelioData InformationURL. JWL The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a NASA Small Explorer class solar mission. It was launched from a Pegasus XL flying out of Vandenberg AFB in California. The rocket was deployed from an Orbital L-1101 carrier aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 39,000 feet (about 12 km), roughly 100 miles northwest of Vandenberg. The rocket was dropped at 7:27 p.m. PDT on 27 June 2013 (02:27 UT, 28 June). IRIS is intended to advance Sun-Earth connection studies by tracing the flow of energy and plasma into the corona and heliosphere for which no suitable observations exist. To achieve this IRIS will obtain high-resolution UV spectra and images of the sun's chromosphere, specifically on the non-thermal energy that creates the corona and the solar wind. IRIS seeks to determine: (1) the types of non-thermal energy which dominate in the chromosphere and beyond; (2) the means by which the chromosphere regulates mass and energy supply to the corona and heliosphere; and, (3) how magnetic flux and matter rise through the lower solar atmosphere, and the role played by flux emergence in flares and mass ejections. To answer these questions, IRIS will utilize a single intrument, a multi-channel imaging spectrograph. See the experiment description for details on the IRIS instrument. spase://SMWG/Person/Bart.De.Pontieu PrincipalInvestigator spase://SMWG/Person/Alan.M.Title FormerPI spase://SMWG/Person/Adrian.N.Daw ProjectScientist spase://SMWG/Person/Joel.C.Allred ProjectScientist spase://SMWG/Person/Deborah.Knapp MissionManager spase://SMWG/Person/Gary.D.Kushner ProjectManager spase://SMWG/Person/Chris.Hoffmann ProjectEngineer NSSDC's Master Catalog https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2013-033A Information about IRIS The Official IRIS website at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center https://iris.gsfc.nasa.gov/ The Official IRIS website at Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory https://iris.lmsal.com/ HelioData https://helio.data.nasa.gov/mission/IRIS The HelioData mission page provides an overview of the mission and more, such as all SPASE dataset records associated with it. Earth.NearSurface