UARS is part of a long-term, international program of space research into global atmospheric change. Beginning in 1991, NASA's UARS program began to carry out the first systematic, detailed satellite study of the Earth's stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere; establish the comprehensive data base needed for an understanding of stratospheric ozone depletion; and bring together scientists and governments around the world to assess the role of human activities in atmospheric change. Launched on September 12, 1991, UARS became the first official space component of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.
NASA Earth Observatory