If we're to land humans on Mars in the coming decades, we'll have to know what challenges await them when they get there.

Between 50 and 1,000 kilometers above our heads is the ionosphere, a layer of Earth's upper atmosphere consisting of charged particles: ions (atoms that have gained or lost a negatively charged ...

Scientists are hoping to understand the Sporadic-E layers that form in the lower portions of ionosphere, causing radio signals to reflect to Earth.

NASA is embarking on the Sporadic-E ElectroDynamics (SEED) mission, launching rockets from Kwajalein Atoll to investigate unpredictable Sporadic-E layers in the ionosphere. These layers disrupt ...

Like Earth, Mars is surrounded by an ionosphere—the part of its upper atmosphere where radiation from the sun knocks electrons off of atoms and molecules, creating charged particles. The Martian ...

NASA’s GOLD mission has made a discovery that is changing how scientists understand Earth’s upper atmosphere. For the first time ever, GOLD has seen X-shaped patterns in the ionosphere—a ...

If we're to land humans on Mars in the coming decades, we'll have to know what challenges await them when they get there. Enter M-MATISSE, a potential precursor to a crewed mission to the Red Planet.

Saturn’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere constitute a complex system in which neutral and charged particles interact under the influence of external energy inputs, internal dynamics and ring ...

A succession of powerful solar eruptions in early May last year triggered the most powerful solar storm to hit Earth in 20 ...

The burst was so bright that it bounced off the Moon and illuminated Earth’s upper atmosphere, surpassing the brightness of a ...

They also want to share what they’re learning about the upper atmosphere by shooting massive amounts of radio waves at it.