NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft is shown here in the clean room, with its solar panels extended. CREDIT: Lockheed Martin View full size image A new NASA spacecraft is weeks away from launching into orbit to study a region of the sun that will help scientists better understand how the solar atmosphere works, scientists said today (June 4). The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) probe is slated to launch on June 26 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The satellite will be carried aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket, which will be released from the company's L-1011 aircraft at an altitude of 39,000 feet (about 12,000 meters). IRIS...
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