NASA’s EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission is cleared to start its 16 -month-long science mission after group members collected “first mild” measurements and accomplished preliminary checkouts to make sure the satellites are wholesome and working usually after deployment into area.
The mission lifted off from Vandenberg Area Power Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 14, 2025.
The EZIE mission would be the first area mission devoted to finding out the magnetic fingerprint of the auroral electrojets. These electrojets are produced when geomagnetic storms attributable to photo voltaic exercise launch bursts of energetic particles into Earth’s higher ambiance, creating colourful auroras however may affect navigation and communications programs, in addition to ground-based infrastructure resembling energy grids. The mission will assist resolve decades-old questions in regards to the construction and evolution of the electrojets and, by extension, much-debated mysteries about Earth’s area climate.
The mission’s three CubeSats — small satellites every roughly the dimensions of a carry-on suitcase — fly in a pearls-on-a-string configuration, following one another over the identical spot about 2 to 10 minutes aside. As they orbit from pole to pole roughly 370 miles (590 kilometers) above Earth’s floor , the trio of satellites map the electrojets, detailing their construction and the way they modify.
Learning the auroral electrojets will assist researchers reply vital questions on how and the place power from geomagnetic exercise is deposited in Earth’s higher ambiance. This information is important to understanding how area climate can affect people and our expertise, from creating vivid auroras to triggering energy outages or endangering astronauts. Information from EZIE additionally sheds mild on different magnetized planets — resembling Saturn and Jupiter — and bolsters our understanding of planets within the photo voltaic system and past.
The EZIE mission is funded by the Heliophysics Division inside the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington and is managed by the Explorers Program Workplace at NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Middle in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Johns Hopkins Utilized Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, leads the mission for NASA. Blue Canyon Applied sciences in Boulder, Colorado, constructed the CubeSats, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California constructed the Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram for every of the three satellites.
Observe NASA’s EZIE weblog for the newest updates.
by Desiree Apodaca
NASA’s Goddard Area Flight Middle, Greenbelt, Md
