The TRACE spacecraft mated to the Pegasus XL rocket on which it will be launched.
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Courtesy of NASA
TRACING the Sun...
News story originally written on April 2, 1998
The TRACE spacecraft was launched April 1st from California. TRACE stands for Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (try saying that fast three times!).
This spacecraft has four telescopes on it. The telescopes will focus in on the transition region of the Sun. The transition region is between the cool surface (only 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit!) and the corona where temperatures are as much as 16 million degrees Fahrenheit.
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