Northrop Grumman's L-1011 Stargazer takes off from the hot pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on June 6, 2018. The company's Pegasus XL rocket, containing NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), is attached beneath the aircraft. The explorer will launch on June 15, 2018, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands (June 14 in the continental United States). ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology, communications systems and society.
Photographer NASA/Randy Beaudoin
Date June 6, 2018
ICONIonospheric Connection ExplorerNASALSPLaunch Services ProgramKSCKennedy Space CenterGSFCGoddard Space Flight CenterNorthrop GrummanPegasus XLLEOStar-2UC BerkeleyVAFBVandenberg Air Force BaseMIHGTIMichelson Interferometer for Global High resolution imaging of tNRLU S Naval Research LaboratoryEUVExtreme Ultraviolet spectrometerICPInstrument Control PackageIVMIon Velocity MeterUT DallasUniversity of Texas at DallasFUVFar Ultraviolet spectrometer