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The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, SAGE, is a series of instruments designed by NASA to observe stratospheric ozone, aerosols, and water vapor from space. In the mid-1980s, scientists realized there was a problem with Earth’s protective coat of ozone...it was thinning. The SAGE family of instruments was pivotal in making accurate measurements of the amount of ozone loss in Earth’s atmosphere and helped leaders around the world institute an international treaty banning products containing harmful chemicals that destroy stratospheric ozone. SAGE is a key part of NASA’s mission to provide crucial, long-term measurements that will help humans better understand and care for Earth’s atmosphere.
On Wednesday, March 8 around 6:30 p.m. EST the SAGE III Instrument Payload was successfully installed on the Nadir Viewing Platform at ELC-4 on the outside of the space station. The mission operations team confirmed that electricity was flowing and the survival heaters were on with good temperature readings. The next step is activation which will take up to two weeks and begin Friday, March 10!
