DSCOVR

Just before sunset at 6:03pm ET on Wednesday, Feb. 11th, Falcon 9 lifted off from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. carrying the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite on SpaceX’s first deep space mission.

DSCOVR is the result of a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the United States Air Force and will be used to observe and provide advanced warning of extreme emissions from the sun which can affect power grids, communications systems, and satellites close to Earth.