Atmospheric Waves Experiment

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The Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) is a

gravitational waves
).

AWE was built by the Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory, and the mission is led by Michael Taylor of Utah State University.[1] NASA selected AWE as an Explorers Program Mission of Opportunity in February 2019.[2][3] The SpaceX CRS-29 spacecraft carrying AWE was successfully launched on 10 November 2023. Once at the ISS, AWE will be extracted from the trunk section of the Cargo Dragon by the Dextre robotic arm and attached to one of the station's Express Payload Adapter (ExPA), ELC-1 Site 3.[4] After two years of observation at the ISS, AWE will be removed from the station and jettisoned to space, where it will be disposed of by reentering Earth's atmosphere to burn up.[5]

Mission

In

GPS navigation. Thus, an understanding of AGWs and how they interact with space weather may contribute to improving the forecast of radio interference.[6]

When AGWs are in the realm of the atmosphere called the mesopause, they produce light, a phenomenon known as airglow. AWE will observe this airglow in infrared, with its location at the ISS allowing global coverage.[1]

Instrument

AWE will be NASA's first instrument dedicated to heliophysics on the ISS.

focal plane.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "AWE Launching to Space Station to Study Atmospheric Waves via Airglow". NASA. October 25, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  2. ^ "NASA Selects Mission to Study Space Weather from Space Station". NASA. February 25, 2019. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  3. ^ Foust, Jeff (February 26, 2019). "NASA selects space weather experiment for ISS". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  4. ^ "Magik Animation of Robotic Operations for Flight SpaceX-29 to ISS". NASA. September 8, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  5. ^ "AWE Atmospheric Waves Experiment". NASA Space Station Research Explorer. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  6. ^ "Science". AWE Mission. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  7. ^ "Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) Calibration CALCON 2020". Utah State University. 2020. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  8. ^ "Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) Flight Model Calibration Overview". Utah State University. 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-06.

External links