Orbital Sciences Corportation's L1011 releases a Pegasus rocket before ignition off the coast of Cape Canaveral into the orbit.

Orbital Sciences Corportation's L1011 releases a Pegasus rocket before ignition, January 25, 2003, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, FL, which will deliver the SORCE satellite, Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment, into the low-Earth orbit. The joint project with Orbital, NASA and the University of Colorado satellite is an atmospheric instrument that will measure incoming radiant energy from the sun. Scientists will use this to address long term atmospheric and climate changes. Other uses will be for ozone research and ultraviolet radiation. (Photo by Eric Roback and Rob Rivers, NASA Langley Research Center)