It was launched in 1984 from the space shuttle Challenger. 

 It was part of NASA's three-satellite Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission. It carries three instruments for measuring the balance of Earth's radiant energy and stratospheric components, including ozone. ERBS is designed to study how the Earth absorbs and re-radiates energy from the sun. Understanding this process helps reveal weather patterns on Earth. Until 2005, ERBS data helped researchers understand how Earth absorbs and radiates energy from the sun. 

He measured the concentrations of ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide and aerosols in Earth's stratosphere. An instrument on ERBS, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II), has collected data showing that the ozone layer is shrinking on a global scale. This contributed to the creation of the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement signed in 1987 that reduced the use of potentially ozone-depleting CFCs. His observations helped researchers measure the impact of human activities on Earth's radiation balance.