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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After being dropped from the L-1011 aircraft at 3:14 p.m. EST over the Atlantic Ocean, the Pegasus XL rocket fires, propelling NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) toward its orbit. Separation of the spacecraft from the rocket occurred 10 minutes and 46 seconds after launch at about 3:24 p.m. Initial contact with the satellite was made seven seconds after separation via a NASA communications satellite network. Over the next few days, the mission team will insure that the spacecraft is functioning properly. The SORCE science instruments will then be turned on and their health verified. Approximately 21 days after launch, if all is going well, the instruments will start initial science data collection and calibration will begin. The spacecraft will study the Sun's influence on our Earth and will measure from space how the Sun affects the Earth's ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and oceans. This mission is a joint partnership between NASA and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado. [Photo courtesy of Jeff Caplan, Langley Research]