BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- An instrument designed and built by a University of Colorado laboratory will be aboard a NASA satellite scheduled for launch on Tuesday.
The satellite, called the Solar Dynamics Observatory, is designed to help scientists predict solar storms that can disrupt communications and power grids.
The CU instrument is called the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, or EVE. It will measure changes in the sun's light output.
CU's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics built the $32 million instrument under contract with NASA. The CU lab will also analyze the data.
The two other instrument packages will measure the sun's magnetic fields and its atmosphere. Both were built by Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, Calif.
The satellite will be launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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