Bright swaths of red in the upper atmosphere, known as airglow, can be seen in this image taken from the International Space Station. NASA’s ICON mission, with a planned launch for the summer of 2017, will observe how interactions between terrestrial weather and a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere create the colorful glow. Credit: NASA
#OTD 3 years ago, we launched the Ionospheric Connection Explorer!
The mission studies an area where Earth’s weather meets space weather. Changes in this dynamic region — known as the ionosphere — can disrupt our radio communications and GPS signals.
