What is GOLD?
The GOLD mission stands for Global Observations of the Limb and Disk
and it’s a very important mission for us to understand the upper atmosphere of the Earth
- the thermosphere and ionosphere of the Earth.
Why is learning about the ionosphere important?
It’s very important for us to understand the ionized portion of the atmosphere
- the ionosphere - as well as the upper atmosphere
because that’s where satellites are, low Earth-orbiting satellites, are orbiting in that region.
Astronauts are exploring that region,
as well as the communication and navigation signals travel through that region.
And so when you have disruptions in the ionosphere and variability in the ionosphere
that can affect our navigation and communication systems.
What does NASA hope to achieve with the GOLD and ICON missions?
NASA hopes to achieve with the GOLD and ICON missions
a better understanding of, of the near-Earth space
that’s so important for our global infrastructure.
What will we learn from the GOLD and ICON missions?
Ultimately the science that we learn from GOLD and ICON
will help us be able to predict the near-Earth environment that affects,
affects our communication and navigation signals and capability.
But also how space weather affects the upper atmosphere,
which can translate to effects on the ground
in terms of our power systems and our navigation systems down below.