NASA recently launched its Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) mission, which consists of two identical 1.5U spacecrafts designed, built and operated by The Aerospace Corporation.

Aerospace received a grant from NASA for the LLITED mission, which aims to shed light on unusual atmospheric phenomena.  
The LLITED mission’s two Aerospace CubeSats will investigate the equatorial temperature and wind anomaly (ETWA) that occurs in the neutral atmosphere, and the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) that occurs in the region containing charged particles. While named anomalies, these features occur daily between approximately 100 to 400 km and have been observed separately from different satellites or from multiple ground observations.

“There are two unusual phenomena that are created during the day in the ionosphere/thermosphere on either side of the equator and then disappear after sunset,” said Dr. Rebecca Bishop, principal investigator for the LLITED mission. “One displays an increase in neutral atmosphere temperature and changes in winds, and the other shows an increase in the ionospheric plasma density almost at the same time. LLITED’s goal is to understand how long each last after sunset and how the two interact with each other.”