NASA's AWE Mission Concludes After Exceeding Planned Duration
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NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) has concluded its data collection phase after surpassing its planned two-year mission. The instrument, which studied how atmospheric gravity waves from Earth's weather affect space weather, captured over 80 million images from the International Space Station. Its observations will now be made available to the public and scientific community.
Facts First
- NASA's AWE instrument was powered down on May 21, ending its data collection.
- The mission exceeded its planned two-year duration during its 30-month residency on the ISS.
- AWE captured over 80 million nighttime images to study atmospheric gravity waves and their impact on space weather.
- The instrument observed waves from major events including a May 2024 tornado outbreak and Hurricane Helene.
- AWE's data will be made publicly available with interactive visualizations already online.
What Happened
NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) instrument was powered down by ground controllers on May 21, marking the end of its data collection phase. The mission, which was launched on November 9, 2023, and installed on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) that November, surpassed its planned two-year duration. During its 30-month residency, AWE captured more than 80 million nighttime images to observe atmospheric gravity waves generated by events like a tornado outbreak and Hurricane Helene.
Why this Matters to You
Understanding the connection between Earth's weather and space weather may lead to more accurate forecasts for satellite operations, navigation, and communications systems you rely on. The public availability of AWE's observations means researchers worldwide can use this data, which could accelerate discoveries about our atmosphere. You can already explore interactive online visualizations of this data on the Utah State University website.
What's Next
The AWE instrument will be removed from the ISS and loaded into a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft to deorbit. Its position on the station is being taken by the CLARREO Pathfinder, which will measure sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon. Scientists will continue analyzing AWE's extensive dataset, which revealed that gravity waves with the greatest influence on the upper atmosphere have small horizontal wavelengths.