NASA's upcoming EZIE mission will use three small satellites to study electrojets - powerful currents in the upper atmosphere associated with auroras. These mysterious currents can affect geomagnetic storms, disrupting satellites, power grids and communications systems. By mapping how EFI evolves, EZIE will improve space weather forecasts and help protect modern technology.

Using advanced instruments and precise flight formations, EZIE will reveal how electrojet changes over time, providing insights into Earth's dynamic space environment. Image source: NASA/JohnsHopkinsAPL/SteveGribben

NASA's EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission is scheduled to launch in March 2025. The mission will put three small satellites (CubeSats) into orbit to study electrojets - powerful electrical currents that flow through Earth's upper atmosphere when the northern and southern lights appear. By mapping the distribution of these currents, scientists hope to improve predictive models of geomagnetic storms and other space weather events that could disrupt technology on Earth.

EZIE will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will be part of the Transporter-13 shared mission coordinated by Maverick Space Systems.

EZIE is APL's first mission designed to image the magnetic fingerprint of Earth's auroral electrojet (electric currents flowing between Earth and space). The mission will be carried out by three CubeSats, which are about the size of a small suitcase and are designed to move from pole to pole and map electrojet images. Here's what you should know about the mission. Image source: NASA/JohnsHopkinsAPL/EmmaCurran

After launch, EZIE's three small satellites will fly in a "pearl line" formation, following each other from one end to the other about 350 miles (550 kilometers) above the Earth. Each spacecraft's onboard sensors will look down on the electrojet, which flows in the galvanic layer (ionosphere) of Earth's atmosphere about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the ground.

During each orbit, each EZIE spacecraft will map electrojets and study their structure. The three spacecraft will fly over the same region 2 to 10 minutes apart, revealing how electrojet changes and helping us better understand the connection between Earth and the sun.

The EZIE mission is funded by the NASA Heliophysics Division and managed by the Explorer Program Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The mission is led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

The CubeSats were built by Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, while NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California developed the Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram, a key instrument on each satellite that will map Earth's electrojet.

Compiled from /ScitechDaily