NASA Set To Launch Shoebox-sized Satellite Studying Earth's Upper Atmosphere

The ionosphere is a layer of charged particles in Earth’s atmosphere that extends from about 50 to 360 miles above the surface of Earth. Processes in the ionosphere also create bright swaths of color in the sky, known as airglow. Credit: NASA GSFC In this animation, a cloud of solar material collides with Earth’s magnetosphere, injecting energy into near-Earth space and triggering the aurora.Credit: NASA GSFC/CIL Lightning occurs when electric charges build up in clouds, which results in a voltage difference between the cloud and the ground. For lightning to strike, there must be an electrically conducting pathway between the cloud and the ground, and the lightning suddenly discharges all the stored energy at once.Credit: NOAA Photo Library; NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) Electrical energy caused by the solar wind striking the magnetosphere produces a voltage difference between different regions of the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. Electric currents flowing along Earth’s magnetic field can form a conducting pathway between these regions. Credit: NASA This animation shows heating of Earth’s upper atmosphere as determined from the Iridium constellation of satellites.Credit: NASA The space above Earth is littered with orbital debris.Credit: NASA GSFC During a geomagnetic storm, Earth’s upper atmosphere can expand and contract depending on conditions in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere.Credit: NASA GSFC The swelling of Earth s upper atmosphere during geomagnetic storms can alter the orbits of satellites, bringing them lower and lower.Credit: NASA Nitric oxide, which is often produced during geomagnetic storms, acts a cooling agent in the upper atmosphere.Credit: L. Hunt (SSAI) and M. Mlynczak (NASA Langley) Data from NASA’s Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics, or TIMED, satellite shows nitric oxide flux in the upper atmosphere.Credit: University of Colorado Boulder/NASA Processes in the ionosphere create bright swaths of color in the sky, known as airglow. This airglow is visible in this photo taken from the International Space Station.Credit: NASA NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, will observe multiple wavelengths of light to study different aspects of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere.Credit: NASA GSFC/CIL/University of California, Berkeley NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission, will study light from different points on Earth’s surface to study different aspects of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere.Credit: NASA GSFC/SVS/University of California, Berkeley NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, and NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission will take complementary observations of Earth’s ionosphere and upper atmosphere.More details about this visualization can be found here. Credit: NASA GSFC/SVS

This short overview video outlines the capabilities of small satellites. Complete transcript available. NASA is about to launch six new next-generation Earth-observing small satellites — some as small as a loaf of bread. These tiny spacecraft are helping to foster creative and cost-effective approaches to studying our planet. This page contains a short overview video as well as a series of conceptual animations of small sats being launched, deployed, in orbit over the Earth collecting data, and in comparison in size to both a person and a traditional large satellite. Note: While these animations are based on real satellite models, they are intended to be generic and not perfectly descriptive of any particular small sat mission. For more on NASA’s small satellite program: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-hold-media-call-on-new-small-satellite-missions-to-study-earth. Small sats often hitch a ride on a larger launch vehicle carrying a different payload. This is a view of that vehicle approaching orbit. A wide view of a series of small satellites being deployed from a single rocket. A close up view of a series of small satellites being deployed from a single rocket. A close up view of a small satellite in orbit. Small sats can collect data individually or in formation. This view is of a hypothetical formation with satellites collecting data over a hurricane. A moving illustration of the difference in scale between a small sat, a human, and a traditional large satellite.