Tour the Plane Giving NASA’s ICON a Ride to Space
Join NASA on a behind-the-scenes tour of this plane, once a jet airliner and now uniquely retrofitted to boost spacecraft into low-Earth orbit. Learn about ICON’s science and meet the people — including an engineer, technician, and pilot — who will help launch the spacecraft into orbit.
Learn more at: nasa.gov/icon
Complete transcript available.
For More Information
See nasa.gov/icon
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Editor
- Joy Ng (KBRwyle)
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Host
- Karen Fox (ADNET)
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Talents
- Don Walter (Northrop Grumman)
- Edward Dunlap (Northrop Grumman)
- Jim Stowers (Northrop Grumman)
- Scott England (Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley)
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Producers
- Kathalina Tran (SGT)
- Sarah Frazier (SGT)
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Videographers
- Francis Michaux (ASRC Federal Data Solutions)
- Glenn Benson (ASRC Federal Data Solutions)
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Support
- Amber Jean Watson (Abacus Technology Corporation)
- Michael Justice (ASRC Federal Data Solutions)
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Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Related pages
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ID: 12971 Produced Video
Unboxing a New NASA Spacecraft
Read moreGo behind the scenes as we unbox NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, after its arrival at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Northrop Grumman engineer Steve Turek and NASA EDGE’s Chris Giersch walk us through the whole process of unboxing a spacecraft – from the instrument that records every tiny bump on its journey to the special crane used to lift the spacecraft to its new home.ICON launches in fall 2018 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to study Earth’s interface to space. Read more about the ICON mission: nasa.gov/icon ||
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ID: 13096 Produced Video
ICON Pre-Launch Live Shots
Read moreB-roll and canned interviews will be added on Wednesday, Oct 24 by 6:00pm || NASA's Mission to Explore the Connection Between Earth’s Weather and Space Launches Next WeekWhat happens in space doesn’t stay in space. Where Earth and space meet, winds from weather patterns ripple upward while solar energy streams down from above, forming a complex system that affects everyday technologies we rely on.Next week, NASA will launch the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) to study this dynamic region of Earth’s upper atmosphere, which is home to colorful auroras, communication satellites, and humans living aboard the International Space Station.Join NASA scientists from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, October 25 – the day before launch – to learn about ICON and the ever-changing conditions in space, known as space weather. To schedule an interview, fill out THIS FORM. suggested questions 1. Just like the weather here on Earth, the conditions in space are constantly changing. What’s today’s space weather forecast?2. From 360 miles above Earth, ICON will see beautiful bright swaths of red and green light in the atmosphere. What is this colorful glow?3. How could ICON’s research help protect technology we use on Earth?4. What else is NASA doing to study space weather?5. Where can we learn more? satellite coordinatesHD Satellite Coordinates for G17-K17/Upper: Galaxy 17 Ku-band Xp 17 Slot Upper| 91.0 ° W Longitude | DL 12049.0 MHz |Horizontal Polarity | QPSK/DVB-S | FEC 3/4 | SR 13.235 Mbps | DR 18.2954 MHz | HD 720p | Format MPEG2 | Chroma Level 4:2:0 | Audio Embedded ** Contact michelle.z.handleman@nasa.gov or 301-286-0918 with questions. Interviews are located at Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.For more, follow @NASASun and nasa.gov/icon ||
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ID: 12947 Produced Video
Launching an ICON
Read moreThe Ionospheric Connection Explorer will explore the mysteries of where Earth meets space. || Like Earth, space has weather. Except instead of swirling winds and downpours of precipitation, space weather is defined by shifting electric and magnetic fields and rains of charged particles. At the very beginning of space, starting just 60 miles above Earth’s surface and extending up about 300 miles more, a region of the atmosphere, called the ionosphere, shifts and changes in concert with both types of weather. The ionosphere is a part of Earth’s atmosphere where particles have been cooked into a sea of electrically charged electrons and ions by the Sun’s radiation. The ionosphere commingles with the very highest — and quite thin — layers of Earth’s neutral upper atmosphere. As a result, this region is constantly in flux, undergoing the push-and-pull between Earth’s conditions and those in space. NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, will enter Earth orbit in this transition region, which is home to astronauts and radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, as well as satellites that provide our communications and GPS systems. ICON concentrates on how charged and neutral gases in the upper atmosphere behave and interact. Understanding the fundamental processes that govern their interactions is crucial to improve situational awareness that helps protect astronauts, spacecraft and the technology upon which our modern society relies. Watch the video to learn more. ||
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ID: 12910 Produced Video
ICON Launch Sequence
Read moreThe Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, will study the frontier of space: the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where Earth weather and space weather meet. In fall 2018, the mission launches on an Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital ATK) Pegasus XL rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. || Animated depiction of ICON's launch from a Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital ATK) Pegasus XL rocketCredit: NASA GSFC/CIL/Josh Masters ||
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ID: 12699 Produced Video
Meet ICON: NASA’s Airglow Explorer
Read moreMusic credit: Design Principle by Wayne RobertsComplete transcript available. || NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON launches in fall 2018. It orbits above the upper atmosphere, through the bottom edge of near-Earth space. From this vantage point, ICON observes both the upper atmosphere and a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere, which 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. ICON will observe how interactions between Earth's weather and the ionosphere create such shimmering airglow as well as other changes in the space environment. Find more views of the ionosphere from the International Space Station at The Crew Earth Observations Video Page ||
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ID: 20265 Animation
ICON Beauty Pass
Read moreBeauty pass showing ICON observing the ionosphere. Credit: NASA/GSFC/CIL || The Ionospheric Connection Explorer will study the frontier of space: the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. In this region, the tenuous gases are anything but quiet, as a mix of neutral and charged particles travel through in giant winds. These winds can change on a wide variety of time scales -- due to Earth's seasons, the day's heating and cooling, and incoming bursts of radiation from the sun.This region of space and its changes have practical repercussions, given our ever-increasing reliance on technology -- this is the area through which radio communications and GPS signals travel. Variations there can result in distortions or even complete disruption of signals. In order to understand this complicated region of near-Earth space, called the ionosphere, NASA has developed the ICON mission. To understand what drives variability in the ionosphere requires a careful look at a complicated system that is driven by both terrestrial and space weather.ICON will help determine the physics of our space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society. ||
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