Sun ID: 12699

Meet ICON: NASA’s Airglow Explorer

Released on October 18, 2017

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

Used Elsewhere In

Credits

Genna Duberstein (USRA): Lead Producer
Karen Fox (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Lead Writer
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Narrator
Tom Immel (SSL Berkeley): Lead Scientist
Douglas E. Rowland (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Sarah L. Jones (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Genna Duberstein (USRA): Editor

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12699

Mission:
Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON)

This item is part of these series:
Narrated Movies
Interface to Space

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Radiation >> Airglow
GCMD >> Location >> Ionosphere
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Dynamics
SVS >> Icon

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0