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A new NASA mission bearing the name of the telescope’s creator, Dr. George R. Carruthers, will launch into space to build on that legacy. From a vantage point roughly one million miles closer to the Sun than Earth is, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will capture the most comprehensive views of the geocorona to date. The observations will reveal new insights into the structure of our atmosphere, how solar eruptions impact Earth, and how a planet’s surface water can escape to space, aiding the search for habitable planets elsewhere in the universe.Learn more about Carruthers Geocorona Observatory science: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/new-nasa-mission-to-reveal-earths-invisible-haloLearn more about the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/carruthers-geocorona-observatory/ || ", "release_date": "2025-09-18T11:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-11-03T13:35:28.158586-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1158162, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014887/14887_Thumbnail.jpg", "filename": "14887_Thumbnail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Produced VideoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music Credit: \"Time in Motion” by Rick Hearson [PRS], “Proud Patterns by Paul Joseph Smith [PRS] from Universal Production Music", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 14855, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14855/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Carruthers Geocorona Observatory Beauty Pass Animations", "description": "The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is a SmallSat mission at Lagrange Point 1 (L1) where it will use an advanced ultraviolet imager to monitor Earth’s exosphere — the outermost layer of the atmosphere — and the exosphere’s response to solar-driven space weather. Carruthers is poised to become the first SmallSat to operate at L1 and the first to deliver continuous exospheric observations from this vantage point.Led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2025 as a rideshare component of NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, which will explore the boundaries of the heliosphere, the bubble that is inflated by the solar wind and surrounds the Sun and planets. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is a vital addition to NASA’s fleet of heliophysics satellites. NASA Heliophysics Division missions study a vast, interconnected system from the Sun to the space surrounding Earth and other planets to the farthest limits of the Sun’s constantly flowing streams of solar wind. || ", "release_date": "2025-06-06T11:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-06-06T11:51:25.636347-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1156138, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014855/Carruthers_BeautyPass_Scene001_1080p.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "Carruthers_BeautyPass_Scene001_1080p.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Animated beauty pass of the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory enroute to Earth–Sun Lagrange Point 1 (L1).Credit: NASA’s Conceptual Imaging Lab/Jonathan North\r", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 14830, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14830/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Carruthers Geocorona Observatory Images", "description": "The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is a SmallSat mission at Lagrange Point 1 (L1) where it will use an advanced ultraviolet imager to monitor Earth’s exosphere — the outermost layer of the atmosphere — and the exosphere’s response to solar-driven space weather. Carruthers is poised to become the first SmallSat to operate at L1 and the first to deliver continuous exospheric observations from this vantage point.Led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2025 as a rideshare component of NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission, which will explore the boundaries of the heliosphere, the bubble that is inflated by the solar wind and surrounds the Sun and planets. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is a vital addition to NASA’s fleet of heliophysics satellites. NASA Heliophysics Division missions study a vast, interconnected system from the Sun to the space surrounding Earth and other planets to the farthest limits of the Sun’s constantly flowing streams of solar wind. || ", "release_date": "2025-04-23T09:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-04-23T09:31:57.772114-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1154543, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014800/a014830/23-22217-CarruthersBus-Edited_print.jpg", "filename": "23-22217-CarruthersBus-Edited_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory ultraviolet spectrometer instrument awaits integration to the spacecraft at BAE Systems.Credit: NASA/BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems", "width": 1024, "height": 682, "pixels": 698368 } }, { "id": 14249, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14249/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Names Mission in Honor of Apollo-Era Visionary Dr. George R. Carruthers", "description": "Dr. George R. Carruthers (1939 - 2020) was a visionary scientist, inventor, engineer and educator. On Dec. 2, he became the namesake of a new NASA mission. The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will observe Earth from space. The mission will capture light from Earth’s geocorona, the part of the outer atmosphere that emits ultraviolet light and will be ready to launch in 2025. || ", "release_date": "2022-12-02T11:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T11:43:50.103965-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 368071, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014200/a014249/14249_CarruthersGeocoronaObservatoryRenaming_YouTube.00095_print.jpg", "filename": "14249_CarruthersGeocoronaObservatoryRenaming_YouTube.00095_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Image credits: U.S. Naval Research LaboratoryMusic credits: “Bright Life” Tristan Lewis Noon [PRS]", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }