Scientists at the U.S. Navy‘s corporate laboratory will send two experiments to the International Space Station on Feb. 17 as part of the Defense Department‘s Space Test Program mission.The National Research Laboratory said Wednesday its Limb-Imaging Ionospheric and Thermospheric Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrograph and GPS Radio Occultation and Ultraviolet Photometer Co-located experiments are two of 13 experiments that will be deployed aboard the STP-H5 payload.
The GROUP-C study is led by research physicist Scott Budzien and will use GPS radio occultation and high-sensitivity UV photometry in efforts to remotely observe the ionosphere’s horizontal and vertical structures.
GROUP-C will apply remote sensing to characterize the low and mid-altitude ionosphere, with a focus on two-dimensional features at night.
NRL physicist Andrew Stephan leads the LITES experiment with the goal to capture images of extreme-and-far UV airglow created by atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere.
LITES aims to identify the composition and density of the ionosphere, thermosphere and other properties of the space environment, the laboratory noted.
