Space Sciences Center(SSC)

At the University of Southern California, research in the space sciences is carried out by the Space Sciences Center and Department of Physics and Astronomy. Work at SSC involves both laboratory and space based investigations of photoabsorption and emission processes in atomic and molecular gasses in the spectral region from the extreme ultraviolet through the infrared. Missions include rocket launches at White Sands Missile Range (usually during the summer),  experiments aboard the orbital platforms, e.g. Space Shuttles, onboard the Solar Heliospheic Observatory (SOHO), and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Two Extreme ultraviolet Solar instruments designed and built at the SSC: the Solar EUV Monitor (SEM) working onboard the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) since 1996 and the Extreme ultraviolet  Spectrophotometer (ESP) – a channel of SDO/EVE instrument provide regular EUV solar irradiance measurements suitable for studying solar spectral variability, Solar Cycle changes, solar activity and flare dynamics and model impacts on Space Weather, including Earth Ionosphere, Thermosphere, and satellite drag.