One of the longest-running spacecraft missions to date, ERBS was launched on October 5, 1984 on the Space Shuttle Challenger and retired on October 14, 2005. The spacecraft was expected to have a two-year operation life, but ultimately, the mission provided scientific data about the Earth's ozone layer for more than two decades. In addition to the ERBE scanning and nonscanning instruments, the satellite also carried the Stratospheric Aerosol Gas Experiment (SAGE II).