The Birth--and Possible Death--of the SAGE III Atmospheric Satellite

On the upcoming SpaceX CRS-10 mission, a rocket will launch carrying the next batch of cargo to the International Space Station. Inside its Dragon capsule's unpressurized trunk will be a critical Earth-facing instrument--one that maps ozone molecules and other compounds in the atmosphere. Its name is the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III, or SAGE III. When the Dragon arrives at the ISS, a robot arm will reach into the trunk, pull out the experiment's parts, put them together, and install them on the outside of the habitat. Scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center will watch streaming video of their baby being assembled, breaths held till everything is in place.