Bolted inside the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft if s 2,200-pound instrument that will be connected to the outside of the International Space Station during CRS-10 to collect data about Earth’s upper atmosphere. The instrument is called SAGE III and it will provide the latest data as part of NASA’s SAGE program, short for Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment. The program is one of the agency’s longest running Earth-observing efforts. It’s providing long-term data to help scientists better understand and care for Earth’s atmosphere.
The first SAGE instrument began operation in 1979 following the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement (SAM), on the Apollo-Soyuz mission. SAGE III will measure stratospheric ozone, aerosols, and other trace gases by locking onto the sun or moon and scanning a thin profile of the atmosphere. There is much more to the SAGE III story, and you can read about it in the program’s press kit at http://go.nasa.gov/2lv3AEZ.