ICON Stories
NASA Mission Finds Tonga Volcanic Eruption Effects Reached Space
When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano erupted on Jan. 15, 2022, it sent atmospheric shock waves, sonic booms, and tsunami waves around the world. Now, scientists are finding the volcano’s effects also reached space. Analyzing data from NASA’s Ionospheric Connection…
Strong Winds Power Electric Fields in the Upper Atmosphere, NASA’s ICON Finds
What happens on Earth doesn’t stay on Earth. Using observations from NASA’s ICON mission, scientists presented the first direct measurements of Earth’s long-theorized dynamo on the edge of space: a wind-driven electrical generator that spans the globe 60-plus miles above…
NASA Rocket, Satellite Tag-Team to View the Giant Electric Current in the Sky
UPDATE Sunday, July 11, 2021: The DYNAMO-2 mission has been completed with the successful launch of the second Black Brant IX sounding rocket at 1:56 p.m. EDT, Sunday, July 11, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. UPDATE July 7, 2021: The first…
NASA Researchers Track Slowly Splitting ‘Dent’ in Earth’s Magnetic Field
A small but evolving dent in Earth’s magnetic field can cause big headaches for satellites. Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield around the planet, repelling and trapping charged particles from the Sun. But over South America and the…
Postcards from the Edge of Space: Scientists Present New Ionosphere Images and Science
Download related briefing material from Dec. 10’s press conference at the 2019 American Geophysical Union meeting. In a Dec. 10 press event at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, three scientists presented new images of…
NASA’s ICON to Explore Boundary Between Earth and Space
Editor’s note: ICON is now scheduled to launch on the night of Oct. 10, 2019. NASA launch coverage begins at 9:15 p.m. EDT on Oct. 10. The 90-minute launch window opens at 9:25 p.m. EDT. Release from the Stargazer L-1011 aircraft…
Why NASA Watches Airglow, the Colors of the (Upper Atmospheric) Wind
What does our planet look like from space? Most are familiar with beloved images of the blue marble or pale blue dot — Earth from 18,000 and 3.7 billion miles away, respectively. But closer to home, at the boundary between…
Counting Down to ICON’s Launch
Editor’s note: ICON is now scheduled to launch on Oct. 9, 2019. The original story as issued on Oct. 16, 2018, appears below. In October 2018, we’re launching the Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, to study Earth’s dynamic interface to space.…
2018: A Big Year for NASA’s Launch Services Program
If there’s a magic number for NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, it could be six. That’s because there are six primary NASA missions scheduled to launch from two different coasts, within about…
Kennedy Space Center Director Looks Ahead to 2018 Key Milestones
By Bob Granath NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana recently spoke to spaceport employees about plans for 2018. The coming year will be highlighted by NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) partners preparing to launch test…