NASA mission to study space weather impacts of Earth's atmosphere

Artist’s rendition of the DAPHNE (Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer) mission concept. The coloring represents auroras and atmospheric waves in Earth’s atmosphere. Credit: Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/Mary Tostanoski

NASA selected a mission concept to research how space weather and dynamics within Earth's atmosphere influence the space environment and help improve prediction capabilities for impacts on crucial technology, such as GPS and low Earth orbit satellites, as well as astronauts in space.

The DAPHNE (Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer) mission will enter Phase B of development, which includes planning and design for flight and mission operations. It will use identical twin satellites to study how changes in Earth's lower atmosphere influence our planet's upper atmosphere, where space weather is manifested.

"NASA is advancing the United States' leadership as a space weather-ready nation, and by providing new insights into Earth's atmosphere we can better predict and prepare for impacts in our daily lives on Earth and in space," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"As NASA sends astronauts beyond Earth's magnetic protection to the moon, Mars and beyond, DAPHNE will join the NASA science fleet strategically located across the solar system to provide data that will help mission planners predict and mitigate the effects of space weather for the benefit of all."

The DAPHNE mission's low-risk, high-return concept will provide coordinated, multipoint measurements of neutral winds, temperature and composition in the thermosphere. The ionosphere and thermosphere are where Earth's neutral atmosphere transitions into the ionized plasma of space.

In this thin shell that surrounds the planet, the atmosphere is in constant motion, shaped by the influence of solar activity and changes in the lower atmosphere and near-Earth space.

Fundamental observations and physical insights from the DAPHNE mission will incorporate lower-atmospheric energy data to advance space weather predictive capabilities. The mission is led by Aimee Merkel from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The mission will be subject to a confirmation review in 2027, which will assess the mission's progress and the availability of funds. If confirmed, the total estimated cost of the mission, excluding launch, will not exceed $250 million in fiscal year 2023 dollars, with a launch date no earlier than 2029.

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NASA mission to study space weather impacts of Earth's atmosphere (2026, June 19)

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