OCI is Pushed into Thermal Vacuum Chamber

The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) mechanical team aligns the instrument on a transportation sled and slowly pushes the instrument into a thermal vacuum chamber to prepare it for a sixty day thermal test to ensure the instrument will perform effectively once it launches into the airless environment of space. OCI is a highly advanced optical spectrometer that will be used to measure properties of light over portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It will enable continuous measurement of light at finer wavelength resolution than previous NASA satellite sensors, extending key system ocean color data records for climate studies. OCI is PACE's (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) primary sensor built at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.