Intro music.
5,4,3,2,1: We have ignition and we have liftoff of NASA's Aura spacecraft.
In the early morning hours of July 14, 2004, an advanced satellite reached orbit
and gave scientists a powerful new tool in protecting the Earth's atmosphere.
NASA's Aura satellite made it through 2 scrubbed launch attempts to successfully lift off on the third try.
Aura is the most advanced satellite ever designed to study's the Earth's atmosphere.
The spacecraft will look at the chemistry of the air we breathe, specifically, the small fraction of air that's made up of trace gases such as ozone and aerosols.
Humans are responsible for creating some of these gases,
so we're also responsible for knowing what kind of affect they have on the future health of our planet.
"Aura has an instrument called the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer which is cutting edge."
Aura is now part of the A-Train, a group of Earth observing satellites that follow each other in orbit and work together to create a comprehensive picture of our world.
Find out more about this groundbreaking mission by visiting the Aura Mission website.