We present the flight performance and preliminary science results from the first flight of the Sub-orbital Local
Interstellar Cloud Experiment (SLICE). SLICE is a rocket-borne far-ultraviolet instrument designed to study the diffuse
interstellar medium. The SLICE payload comprises a Cassegrain telescope with LiF-coated aluminum optics feeding a
Rowland Circle spectrograph operating at medium resolution (R ~ 5000) over the 102 – 107 nm bandpass. We present a
novel method for cleaning LiF-overcoated Al optics and the instrumental wavelength calibration, while the details of the
instrument design and assembly are presented in a companion proceeding (Kane et al. 2013). We focus primarily on
first results from the spring 2013 launch of SLICE in this work. SLICE was launched aboard a Terrier-Black Brant IX
sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range to observe four hot stars sampling different interstellar sightlines. The
instrument acquired approximately 240 seconds of on-target time for the science spectra. We observe atomic and
molecular transitions (HI, OI, CII, OVI, H2) tracing a range of temperatures, ionization states, and molecular fractions in
diffuse interstellar clouds. Initial spectral synthesis results and future plans are discussed.
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