Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Trailblazing New Earth Satellite Put to Test in Preparation for Launch
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
5 Min Read NASA’s EZIE Launching to Study Magnetic Fingerprints of Earth’s Aurora
High above Earth’s poles, intense electrical currents called electrojets flow through the upper atmosphere when auroras glow in the sky. These auroral electrojets push about a million amps of electrical charge around the poles every second. They can create some of the largest magnetic disturbances on the ground, and rapid changes in the currents can lead to effects such as power outages. In March, NASA plans to launch its EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission to learn more about these powerful currents, in the hopes of ultimately mitigating the effects of such space weather for humans on Earth.
Results from EZIE will help NASA better understand the dynamics of the Earth-Sun connection and help improve predictions of hazardous space weather that can harm astronauts, interfere with satellites, and trigger power outages.
The EZIE mission includes three CubeSats, each about the size of a carry-on suitcase. These small satellites will fly in a pearls-on-a-string formation, following each other as they orbit Earth from pole to pole about 350 miles (550 kilometers) overhead. The spacecraft will look down toward the electrojets, which flow about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the ground in an electrified layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere.
During every orbit, each EZIE spacecraft will map the electrojets to uncover their structure and evolution. The spacecraft will fly over the same region 2 to 10 minutes apart from one another, revealing how the electrojets change.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
supports HTML5 video
NASA’s EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission will use three CubeSats to map Earth’s auroral electrojets — intense electric currents that flow high above Earth’s polar regions when auroras glow in the sky. As the trio orbits Earth, each satellite will use four dishes pointed at different angles to measure magnetic fields created by the electrojets. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben Previous ground-based experiments and spacecraft have observed auroral electrojets, which are a small part of a vast electric circuit that extends 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers) from Earth to space. But for decades, scientists have debated what the overall system looks like and how it evolves. The mission team expects EZIE to resolve that debate.
“What EZIE does is unique,” said Larry Kepko, EZIE mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “EZIE is the first mission dedicated exclusively to studying the electrojets, and it does so with a completely new measurement technique.”
EZIE is the first mission dedicated exclusively to studying the electrojets.
Larry Kepko
EZIE mission scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
This technique involves looking at microwave emission from oxygen molecules about 10 miles (16 kilometers) below the electrojets. Normally, oxygen molecules emit microwaves at a frequency of 118 Gigahertz. However, the electrojets create a magnetic field that can split apart that 118 Gigahertz emission line in a process called Zeeman splitting. The stronger the magnetic field, the farther apart the line is split.
Each of the three EZIE spacecraft will carry an instrument called the Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram to observe the Zeeman effect and measure the strength and direction of the electrojets’ magnetic fields. Built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, each of these instruments will use four antennas pointed at different angles to survey the magnetic fields along four different tracks as EZIE orbits.
The technology used in the Microwave Electrojet Magnetograms was originally developed to study Earth’s atmosphere and weather systems. Engineers at JPL had reduced the size of the radio detectors so they could fit on small satellites, including NASA’s TEMPEST-D and CubeRRT missions, and improved the components that separate light into specific wavelengths.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
supports HTML5 video
NASA’s EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission will investigate Earth’s auroral electrojets, which flow high above Earth’s polar regions when auroras (northern and southern lights) glow. By providing unprecedented measurements of these electrical currents, EZIE will answer decades-old mysteries. Understanding these currents will also improve scientists’ capabilities for predicting hazardous space weather. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL The electrojets flow through a region that is difficult to study directly, as it’s too high for scientific balloons to reach but too low for satellites to dwell.
“The utilization of the Zeeman technique to remotely map current-induced magnetic fields is really a game-changing approach to get these measurements at an altitude that is notoriously difficult to measure,” said Sam Yee, EZIE’s principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.
The mission is also including citizen scientists to enhance its research, distributing dozens of EZIE-Mag magnetometer kits to students in the U.S. and volunteers around the world to compare EZIE’s observations to those from Earth. “EZIE scientists will be collecting magnetic field data from above, and the students will be collecting magnetic field data from the ground,” said Nelli Mosavi-Hoyer, EZIE project manager at APL.
EZIE scientists will be collecting magnetic field data from above, and the students will be collecting magnetic field data from the ground.
Nelli Mosavi-Hoyer
EZIE project manager, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
The EZIE spacecraft will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as part of the Transporter-13 rideshare mission with SpaceX via launch integrator Maverick Space Systems.
The mission will launch during what’s known as solar maximum — a phase during the 11-year solar cycle when the Sun’s activity is stronger and more frequent. This is an advantage for EZIE’s science.
“It’s better to launch during solar max,” Kepko said. “The electrojets respond directly to solar activity.”
The EZIE mission will also work alongside other NASA heliophysics missions, including PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), launching in late February to study how material in the Sun’s outer atmosphere becomes the solar wind.
According to Yee, EZIE’s CubeSat mission not only allows scientists to address compelling questions that have not been able to answer for decades but also demonstrates that great science can be achieved cost-effectively.
“We’re leveraging the new capability of CubeSats,” Kepko added. “This is a mission that couldn’t have flown a decade ago. It’s pushing the envelope of what is possible, all on a small satellite. It’s exciting to think about what we will discover.”
The EZIE mission is funded by the Heliophysics Division within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA Goddard. APL leads the mission for NASA. Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, built the CubeSats.
by Vanessa Thomas
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Header Image:
An artist’s concept shows the three EZIE satellites orbiting Earth.
Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 Related Terms
Heliophysics Auroras EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) Goddard Space Flight Center Missions Small Satellite Missions The Sun Explore More
6 min read NASA’s PUNCH Mission to Revolutionize Our View of Solar Wind
Article
4 days ago
2 min read Hubble Spies a Spiral That May Be Hiding an Imposter
Article
4 days ago
3 min read Eclipses to Auroras: Eclipse Ambassadors Experience Winter Field School in Alaska
Article
1 week ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A new international study partially funded by NASA on how Mars got its iconic red color adds to evidence that Mars had a cool but wet and potentially habitable climate in its ancient past.
Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 2500 kilometers from the surface of the planet, with the scale being .6km/pixel. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene (lat -8, long 78) shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 2000 kilometers long and up to 8 kilometers deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometers high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters.NASA The current atmosphere of Mars is too cold and thin to support liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, on its surface for lengthy periods. However, various NASA and international missions have found evidence that water was abundant on the Martian surface billions of years ago during a more clement era, such as features that resemble dried-up rivers and lakes, and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water.
Adding to this evidence, results from a study published February 25 in the journal Nature Communications suggest that the water-rich iron mineral ferrihydrite may be the main culprit behind Mars’ reddish dust. Martian dust is known to be a hodgepodge of different minerals, including iron oxides, and this new study suggests one of those iron oxides, ferrihydrite, is the reason for the planet’s color.
The finding offers a tantalizing clue to Mars’ wetter and potentially more habitable past because ferrihydrite forms in the presence of cool water, and at lower temperatures than other previously considered minerals, like hematite. This suggests that Mars may have had an environment capable of sustaining liquid water before it transitioned from a wet to a dry environment billions of years ago.
“The fundamental question of why Mars is red has been considered for hundreds if not for thousands of years,” said lead author Adam Valantinas, a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, who started the work as a Ph.D. student at the University of Bern, Switzerland. “From our analysis, we believe ferrihydrite is everywhere in the dust and also probably in the rock formations, as well. We’re not the first to consider ferrihydrite as the reason for why Mars is red, but we can now better test this using observational data and novel laboratory methods to essentially make a Martian dust in the lab.”
Laboratory sample showing simulated Martian dust. The ochre color is characteristic of iron-rich ferrihydrite, a mineral that provides crucial insights into ancient water activity and environmental conditions on Mars. The fine-powder mixture consists of ferrihydrite and ground basalt with particles less than one micrometer in size (1/100th diameter of a human hair) (Sample scale: 1 inch across).Adam Valantinas “These new findings point to a potentially habitable past for Mars and highlight the value of coordinated research between NASA and its international partners when exploring fundamental questions about our solar system and the future of space exploration,” said Geronimo Villanueva, the Associate Director for Strategic Science of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-author of this study.
The researchers analyzed data from multiple Mars missions, combining orbital observations from instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter with ground-level measurements from NASA rovers like Curiosity, Pathfinder, and Opportunity. Instruments on the orbiters and rovers provided detailed spectral data of the planet’s dusty surface. These findings were then compared to laboratory experiments, where the team tested how light interacts with ferrihydrite particles and other minerals under simulated Martian conditions.
“What we want to understand is the ancient Martian climate, the chemical processes on Mars — not only ancient — but also present,” said Valantinas. “Then there’s the habitability question: Was there ever life? To understand that, you need to understand the conditions that were present during the time of this mineral’s formation. What we know from this study is the evidence points to ferrihydrite forming and for that to happen there must have been conditions where oxygen from air or other sources and water can react with iron. Those conditions were very different from today’s dry, cold environment. As Martian winds spread this dust everywhere, it created the planet’s iconic red appearance.”
Whether the team’s proposed formation model is correct could be definitively tested after samples from Mars are delivered to Earth for analysis.
“The study really is a door-opening opportunity,” said Jack Mustard of Brown University, a senior author on the study. “It gives us a better chance to apply principles of mineral formation and conditions to tap back in time. What’s even more important though is the return of the samples from Mars that are being collected right now by the Perseverance rover. When we get those back, we can actually check and see if this is right.”
Part of the spectral measurements were performed at NASA’s Reflectance Experiment Laboratory (RELAB) at Brown University. RELAB is supported by NASA’s Planetary Science Enabling Facilities program, part of the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
By William Steigerwald
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 24, 2025 EditorWilliam SteigerwaldContactLonnie Shekhtmanlonnie.shekhtman@nasa.govLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
The Solar System Mars Explore More
5 min read NASA Marks Artemis Progress With Gateway Lunar Space Station
NASA and its international partners are making progress on Gateway – the lunar space station…
Article 4 days ago 6 min read NASA’s PUNCH Mission to Revolutionize Our View of Solar Wind
Earth is immersed in material streaming from the Sun. This stream, called the solar wind,…
Article 4 days ago 2 min read How Long Does it Take to Get to the Moon… Mars… Jupiter? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 51
So how long does it take to get from Earth to the Moon, to Mars…
Article 6 days ago View the full article
-
-
By NASA
The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress spacecraft pictured on Aug. 13, 2024, from the International Space Station.Credit: NASA NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft delivering approximately three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station.
The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 91 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 4:24 p.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 27 (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time, Friday, Feb. 28), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Live launch coverage will begin at 4 p.m. on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
After a two-day in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will dock autonomously to the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 6:03 p.m. Saturday, March 1. NASA’s rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 5:15 p.m. on NASA+.
The Progress 91 spacecraft will remain docked to the space station for approximately six months before departing for re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars.
Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about the International Space Station, its research, and its crew, at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 24, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
International Space Station (ISS) Humans in Space ISS Research Johnson Space Center Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
-
By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, which will detect and observe asteroids and comets that could potentially pose an impact threat to Earth.
The firm fixed price launch service task order is being awarded under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity NASA Launch Services II contract. The total cost to NASA for the launch service is approximately $100 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The NEO Surveyor mission is targeted to launch no earlier than September 2027 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.
The NEO Surveyor mission consists of a single scientific instrument: an almost 20-inch (50-centimeter) diameter telescope that will operate in two heat-sensing infrared wavelengths. It will be capable of detecting both bright and dark asteroids, the latter being the most difficult type to find with existing assets. The space telescope is designed to help advance NASA’s planetary defense efforts to discover and characterize most of the potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. These are collectively known as near-Earth objects, or NEOs.
The mission will carry out a five-year baseline survey to find at least two-thirds of the unknown NEOs larger than 140 meters (460 feet). These are the objects large enough to cause major regional damage in the event of an Earth impact. By using two heat-sensitive infrared imaging channels, the telescope can also make more accurate measurements of the sizes of NEOs and gain information about their composition, shapes, rotational states, and orbits.
The mission is tasked by NASA’s Planetary Science Division within the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Program oversight is provided by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which was established in 2016 to manage the agency’s ongoing efforts in planetary defense. NASA’s Planetary Missions Program Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, provides program management for NEO Surveyor. The project is being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Multiple aerospace and engineering companies are contracted to build the spacecraft and its instrumentation, including BAE Systems SMS (Space & Mission Systems), Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will support operations, and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, is responsible for processing survey data and producing the mission’s data products. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Mission team leadership includes the University of California, Los Angeles. NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for managing the launch service.
For more information about NEO Surveyor, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/
-end-
Tiernan Doyle / Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600 / 202-358-1100
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Patti Bielling
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-7575
patricia.a.bielling@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 21, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Office Launch Services Program NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope) Planetary Defense Coordination Office Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.