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NASA Selects Final Investigations for GDC Mission
NASA has selected the final two investigations for the Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission, or GDC. This mission will provide key advances in our understanding of Earth’s ionosphere-thermosphere system, including providing the scientific foundation for our ability to quantify and forecast space weather effects both on Earth and in space.
The Thermal Plasma Sensor (TPS) and the Near Earth Magnetometer Instrument in a Small Integrated System (NEMISIS) will join the GDC mission and deliver instruments for integration on the GDC spacecraft.
Thermal Plasma Sensor
The TPS investigation – led by Phillip Anderson from the University of Texas, Dallas – will address the following three key aspects related to the structure and dynamics of the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space, called the ionosphere-thermosphere system:
The collisions that couple the thermospheric (neutral) flows and the ionospheric (ion) flows
The role of large-scale ionospheric flows in generating smaller-scale ionospheric structures at high latitudes
How structure in the low- and mid-latitude ionosphere is generated during times of geomagnetic activity
As part of its investigation, TPS will deliver a low-energy plasma instrument that will enable GDC to precisely measure the ionospheric flows. This instrument has flown and been proven on previous NASA and non-NASA missions and will be combined with the other GDC instruments to observe and measure the thermosphere and ionosphere.
NEMISIS Investigation
The NEMISIS investigation – led by Mark Moldwin from the University of Michigan – will map out and study the electromagnetic energy that enters the upper atmosphere from Earth’s magnetosphere. It will quantify how these energy inputs vary in both space and time, and how they directly drive and control dynamics observed in the ionosphere-thermosphere system across all spatial and temporal scales.
As part of its investigation, NEMISIS will deliver an integrated magnetometer system that will enable GDC to measure perturbations in Earth’s magnetic field. This system integrates and combines flight-proven hardware that is compact, lightweight, and uses minimal power that will be coupled with machine-learning algorithms to isolate the perturbations and produce high-quality data for the GDC science investigation.
TPS and NEMISIS are the final investigations selected for GDC. They will provide capabilities crucial to understanding the upper atmosphere as a collection of distinct parts and a system that acts and reacts together.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-selects-final-investigations-for-gdc-mission