Michael Luther participates in a Radiation Belt Storm Probes or RBSP postlaunch news conference at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site.

Michael Luther, deputy associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate? at NASA Headquarters, participates in a Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, postlaunch news conference at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site in Florida. The RBSP spacecraft launched atop a United Launch Alliance, or ULA, Atlas V rocket at 4:05 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

RBSP will explore changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- known as "space weather" -- that can disable satellites, create power-grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will provide data on the fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe. For more information on RBSP, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann