NASA - Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) logo.
11 oct. 2019
L-1011 Stargazer aircraft and Pegasus XL rocket
A Pegasus XL rocket launched NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) on 11 October 2019, at 02:00 UTC. The Northrop Grumman L-1011 Stargazer aircraft took off from the Skid Strip runway at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. ICON will explore the ionosphere, the dynamic region where Earth meets space.
Pegasus XL launches ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer)
ICON will study the ionosphere, a region of Earth’s upper atmosphere where terrestrial weather meets space weather. Disturbances in the ionosphere triggered by solar storms or weather activity in the lower atmosphere can cause disturbances in GPS navigation and radio transmissions.
Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON)
The mission’s staging point was changed from Kwajalein Atoll to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in mid-2018. Delayed from June 15, Nov. 14, and Dec. 8, 2017. Delayed from June 14, Sept. 24, Oct. 6, Oct. 26 and Nov. 3. Scrubbed on Nov. 7. Delayed from 1st Quarter 2019. Delayed from Oct. 9 by poor weather.
NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON): https://www.nasa.gov/icon
Images, Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Randy Beaudoin/Ben Smegelsky/USAF 30th SCS/Anthony Vauclin/Northrop Grumman/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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