Ionospheric Connection Explorer in low-Earth orbit with airglow, illustration. NASA's ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) spacecraft, scheduled for
Ionospheric Connection Explorer in low-Earth orbit with airglow, illustration. NASA's ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) spacecraft, scheduled for launch in September 2018, will orbit at an altitude of 350 kilometres. It has been designed to study the Earth's ionosphere. The ionosphere is the ionised part of the Earth's atmosphere, reaching from around 60 to 1000 kilometres above the Earth's surface. It includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere (below the thermosphere) and exosphere (above the thermosphere). The ionisation is caused by the Sun, and studying the ionosphere is a key part of understanding the effect space weather has on satellite communications and related technology. The bands of colour in the background, known as airglow, are one the atmospheric phenomenon ICON will study.
Size: 2605px × 3371px
Photo credit: © NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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