NASA is design to study a little - understand portion of Earth ’s atmosphere this year , launching two space vehicle that will supervise how our ionosphere interacts with space .

The first of the two missions is called GOLD , or the Global - scale of measurement Observations of the Limb and Disk , which will be launching onJanuary 25on an Ariane 5 rocket engine from Kourou , French Guiana . later on this year the 2d part of the mission – the Ionospheric Connection Explorer ( ICON ) – will set up .

The plan is to analyse how the solar wind and other blank space atmospheric condition interact with Earth ’s upper air , the ionosphere , and thermosphere , at an altitude of around 97 kilometre ( 60 mi ) . This region is in constant magnetic field as it is pushed and root for by conditions on Earth and in space .

" There are huge scientific moulding efforts link with both of these missions , " said Sarah Jones , GOLD mission scientist at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland , in astatement .

" We already have good example that are fulfil with really upright science , but these new measuring will lead to a good reason of the physics in the models . ”

Au will be placed in a geostationary orbit 35,000 klick ( 22,000 mile ) above Earth ’s control surface . Here , it will have a continual sight of Earth and its knocked out atmosphere . It will get a complete perspective of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere every half an hr , giving us large - scale measurement of the part .

Then , later in 2018 , ICON will be launched to get a moreclose - up view . revolve at an altitude of 565 kilometers ( 350 miles ) , ICON will repeatedly pass through the field of view of GOLD , so that their data can overlap .

It ’s hoped that the missions will help us see how hurricane and geomagnetic storm affect the upper atmosphere , in improver to solar wind . scientist are also keen to see what effect El Niño has too , while tropical cyclones may also induce some alteration .

atomic number 79 will also monitor disruption in the ionosphere at night , in the pattern of house of cards of charge petrol that can interfere with radio receiver communication as a solution of geomagnetic storms . ikon , meanwhile , will take how gases in the upper atmospheric state interact .

" We used to think only solar wind could bear upon the ionosphere , and only the low atmosphere was affected by tellurian weather , " said Doug Rowland , ICON charge scientist at NASA Goddard , in the command .

Now , thanks to this mission , we ’re go to encounter out how both Earth and infinite weather condition can form our upper atmosphere .