|
Three flights of the SAGE III instrument are currently planned including a flight aboard a Russian Meteor-3M platform in 2001 and the International Space Station in 2004. The launch of the third SAGE III mission has not been identified.
The chart below shows the coverage over the earth provided by the first two missions for solar occultation measurement events.
SAGE III/Meteor will be in a sun-synchronous orbit that provides primarily high latitude measurements. SAGE III/ISS (International Space Station), on the other hand, will be in an inclined orbit that provides near global coverage over the course of about a month.
|
 |
 Meteor-3M Mission
The initial SAGE III mission, aboard the Russian Space Agency Meteor-3M platform, launched on December 10, 2001. Meteor-3M is placed in a sun synchronous orbit that yields solar measurement opportunities between 50° and 80° North and 30° and 50° South. The high northern latitude coverage will provide insight into the processes leading to ozone depletion during boreal winter and provide coverage that complements the mid and low latitude coverage provided by SAGE II and other SAGE III missions.
 International Space Station Mission
SAGE III is scheduled to be a part of the International Space Station (ISS) payload beginning in 2004. ISS will be placed in a 51°-inclined orbit that yields SAGE III solar measurement opportunities from 70° South to 70° North over the course of one month. This orbit is similar to that of SAGE II (a 57°-inclined orbit) and is well suited to SAGE III's primary mission to provide long-term global monitoring of ozone and aerosol variations.
Flight of Opportunity (FOO) Mission
The third SAGE III mission has not formally been selected.
|
