A laboratory of the University of Colorado Boulder has secured a potential five-year, $16.2 million contract to help NASA process, analyze and manage data from a solar irradiance measurement instrument currently installed aboard the International Space Station.
The university’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics will provide Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-1 data products along with command procedures, scripts and uploads in support of the sensor’s missions, NASA said Wednesday.
A SpaceX-built Dragon spacecraft carried and delivered the instrument to the space station in December.
TSIS-1 is designed to gather data that can help scientists examine the natural influence of sun on Earth’s ozone layer, clouds, vegetation and atmospheric circulation.