Ionospheric Connection Explorer

Ionospheric Connection Explorer
Artist's concept of ICON
Mission type Earth observation
Operator UC Berkeley SSL / NASA
Website icon.ssl.berkeley.edu
Mission duration Planned: 2 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus LEOStar-2[1]
Manufacturer UC Berkeley / Orbital ATK
Launch mass 281 kg (619 lb)
Power 209-265 watts[1]
Start of mission
Launch date October 26 2018 (planned)[2]
Rocket Pegasus XL[3]
Launch site Stargazer
Cape Canaveral Skid Strip[2]
Contractor Northrop Grumman[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 575 km (357 mi)
Inclination 27°
Epoch Planned[1]

The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON)[4] is a satellite designed to investigate changes in the Earth's ionosphere. It is scheduled to by launched aboard a Pegasus XL rocket no earlier than September 2018[2] as part of NASA's Explorers program and operated by UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory.[5] ICON will study the interaction between Earth's weather systems and space weather driven by the Sun, and how this interaction drives turbulence in the upper atmosphere. It is hoped that a better understanding of this dynamic will mitigate its effects on communications, GPS signals, and technology in general.[4][6]

On 12 April 2013, NASA announced that ICON, along with Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD), had been selected for development[7] with the cost capped at US$200 million, excluding launch costs.[3] The principal investigator of ICON is Thomas Immel at the University of California, Berkeley.[7][8]

Mission concept

ICON's observational geometry, showing both in-situ and remote sensing of the ionosphere-thermosphere system.

Once launched, ICON will perform a two-year mission to observe conditions in both the thermosphere and ionosphere.[7] ICON will be equipped with four instruments: a Michelson interferometer, built by the United States Naval Research Laboratory, will measure the winds and temperatures in the thermosphere; an ion drift meter, built by UT Dallas, will measure the motion of charged particles in the ionosphere; and two ultraviolet imagers built at UC Berkeley will observe the airglow layers in the upper atmosphere in order to determine both ionospheric and thermospheric density and composition.

Instruments

ICON carries four scientific instruments: [9][10]

  • Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI)
  • Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) is an ion drift meter
  • Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV), an imager
  • Far Ultra-Violet (FUV), an imager

MIGHTI was developed at the United States Naval Research Laboratory, IVM at the University of Texas, and EUV and FUV were developed at the University of California.[11] MIGHTI measures wind speed and temperature between 90 to 300 km in altitude.[12] The velocity measurements are gathered by observing the doppler shift in the red and green lines of atomic oxygen.[13] This is done with the Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) which uses échelle gratings.[14] The temperature measurements are done by photometeric observations with a CCD.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ICON: Exploring where Earth's Weather meets Space Weather" (PDF). University of California, Berekeley. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Granath, Bob (21 September 2018). "NASA's ICON launch now targeted for Oct. 26 - ICON Mission". NASA Blogs. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. 1 2 Leone, Dan (20 October 2015). "Heliophysics Small Explorer Solicitation Set for First Half of 2016". SpaceNews. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Ionospheric Connection Explorer". University of California, Berkeley.
  5. ↑ Sanders, Robert (16 April 2013). "UC Berkeley selected to build NASA's next space weather satellite". Berkeley News. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "ICON Mission Overview". NASA. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Harrington, J. D. (5 April 2013). "NASA Selects Explorer Investigations for Formulation". NASA. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "ICON Project Management". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) Satellite - Aerospace Technology". Aerospace Technology. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  10. ↑ "ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) - Satellite Missions - eoPortal Directory". directory.eoportal.org. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  11. ↑ "Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) Satellite - Aerospace Technology". Aerospace Technology. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  12. ↑ Englert, Christoph R.; Harlander, John M.; Brown, Charles M.; Marr, Kenneth D.; Miller, Ian J.; Stump, J. Eloise; Hancock, Jed; Peterson, James Q.; Kumler, Jay (2017-04-20). "Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Instrument Design and Calibration". Space Science Reviews. 212 (1–2): 553–584. doi:10.1007/s11214-017-0358-4. ISSN 0038-6308. PMC 6042234. PMID 30008488.
  13. ↑ Englert, Christoph R.; Harlander, John M.; Brown, Charles M.; Marr, Kenneth D.; Miller, Ian J.; Stump, J. Eloise; Hancock, Jed; Peterson, James Q.; Kumler, Jay (2017-04-20). "Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Instrument Design and Calibration". Space Science Reviews. 212 (1–2): 553–584. doi:10.1007/s11214-017-0358-4. ISSN 0038-6308. PMC 6042234. PMID 30008488.
  14. ↑ Englert, Christoph R.; Harlander, John M.; Brown, Charles M.; Marr, Kenneth D.; Miller, Ian J.; Stump, J. Eloise; Hancock, Jed; Peterson, James Q.; Kumler, Jay (2017-04-20). "Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Instrument Design and Calibration". Space Science Reviews. 212 (1–2): 553–584. doi:10.1007/s11214-017-0358-4. ISSN 0038-6308. PMC 6042234. PMID 30008488.
  15. ↑ Englert, Christoph R.; Harlander, John M.; Brown, Charles M.; Marr, Kenneth D.; Miller, Ian J.; Stump, J. Eloise; Hancock, Jed; Peterson, James Q.; Kumler, Jay (2017-04-20). "Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI): Instrument Design and Calibration". Space Science Reviews. 212 (1–2): 553–584. doi:10.1007/s11214-017-0358-4. ISSN 0038-6308. PMC 6042234. PMID 30008488.

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