{
    "id": 5419,
    "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5419/",
    "page_type": "Visualization",
    "title": "The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 1",
    "description": "The Carruthers Geocorona Obervatory observes Earth's exosphere, or geocorona, from the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 1.",
    "release_date": "2025-06-09T00:00:00-04:00",
    "update_date": "2025-06-10T14:58:01.499127-04:00",
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                "name": "Tom Bridgman",
                "employer": "Global Science and Technology, Inc."
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            "description": "The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is a SmallSat mission to 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.\r\n\r\nEarth's geocorona is a cloud of neutral hydrogen that extends from the ionosphere out to the orbit of the Moon and possibly beyond.  It is created from the breakdown of water and methane to hydrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere by ultraviolet light from the Sun.  This hydrogen is observed in ultraviolet light (a wavelength called Lyman-alpha) from the subsequent excitation and de-excitation by the ultraviolet light.\r\n\r\nLed 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.",
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            "caption": "The Carruthers Observatory orbits the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point to image Earth's 'exosphere' or geocorona, visible in the glow of hydrogen gas excited by solar ultraviolet photons.  The exosphere is represented as a pink 'glow' around Earth.  The blue cone is the field-of-view of Carruthers' inner camera and the red cone represents the view of the wide-field camera.",
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            "widget": "Basic text",
            "title": "For More Information",
            "caption": "",
            "description": "See [science.NASA.gov](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/carruthers-geocorona-observatory/){:target=\"_blank\"}",
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            "role": "Visualizer",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "Tom Bridgman",
                    "employer": "Global Science and Technology, Inc."
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            "role": "Producer",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "Beth Anthony",
                    "employer": "eMITS"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Desiree S. Apodaca",
                    "employer": "eMITS"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "role": "Technical support",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "Laurence Schuler",
                    "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc."
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                {
                    "name": "Ian Jones",
                    "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc."
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        {
            "name": "SPICE Ephemerides",
            "common_name": "SPICE Ephemerides",
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    "keywords": [
        "Geocorona",
        "Ionosphere"
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    "related": [
        {
            "id": 14887,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14887/",
            "page_type": "Produced Video",
            "title": "NASA Mission to Study Giant ‘Halo’ Surrounding Earth",
            "description": "In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts placed an ultraviolet camera on the Moon that captured the first images of Earth’s geocorona, the light emitted by Earth’s outermost atmospheric layer. 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",
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                "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",
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