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    Stargazer Aircraft Arrives with Pegasus XL, ICON Satellite

    In Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, preflight processing nears completion for a Northrup Grumman Pegasus XL rocket on Oct. 8, 2018. Enclosed in the rocket's payload fairing is NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin

    The Northrop Grumman L-1011 Stargazer aircraft arrived Oct. 19, 2018 at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida following a cross-country trip from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Attached beneath the Stargazer is the company's Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite on board. ICON will …

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    Here’s a Coronal Mass Ejection Right Before It Hit Earth

    By Miles Hatfield NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center On Aug. 20, 2018, a Coronal Mass Ejection — an explosion of hot, electrically charged plasma erupting from the Sun — made its way towards Earth. By Aug. 26 it had hit — and aurora were visible as far south as Montana and Wisconsin in the United States. …

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    Payload Fairing Installed for ICON Mission

    On Oct. 4, 2018, technicians at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, installed the payload fairing on the Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket that will launch NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. ICON is being prepared for launch on a Pegasus XL rocket which will be carried aloft by Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer aircraft. …

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    Managers Complete Flight Readiness Review for ICON Satellite

    This illustration depicts NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite that will study the frontier of space: the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above. Photo credit: NASA

    NASA and Northrop Grumman managers have completed the Flight Readiness Review ensuring preparations are on track for the launch of the agency's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. The meeting took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California where the spacecraft is being processed. ICON is scheduled to be launched Oct. 26, 2018, by …

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    Flight Readiness Review Underway for ICON Satellite

    This illustration depicts NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite that will study the frontier of space: the dynamic zone high in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather from above. Photo credit: NASA

    NASA and Northrop Grumman managers are holding a Flight Readiness Review to ensure preparations are continuing on track for the launch of the agency's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite. The meeting is taking place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California where the spacecraft is being processed. ICON is scheduled to be launched Oct. …

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    Solar Cycle 24, in X-Ray Vision

    A series of bright, fiery images of the Sun are arranged in a circular formation against a black background. Variations in solar activity are visible on the Sun's surface, creating a glowing, dynamic pattern.

    By Miles Hatfield NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center September 22, 2018 marked the 12th launch anniversary of Hinode — a solar observatory collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the European Space Agency, the United Kingdom Space Agency and NASA. Twelve years is long enough for Hinode to observe …

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    Here’s the Very First Image from NASA’s New GOLD Mission

    A pixelated world map showing airglow brightness at 135.6 nm. The left hemisphere is dark blue, indicating low brightness, while the right is bright yellow-orange, showing higher brightness. A legend below ranges from 0.1 to 1.0 kR.

    By Tom Mason Office of Communications and Outreach Manager Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder On Sept. 11, 2018, at approximately 6 a.m. local time in eastern South America, NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission sent back its very first image. Maps like …

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