NASA launched three space missions to map the Sun’s influence in space

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have launched IMAP, Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and the SWFO-L mission to study the Sun’s influence in the solar system.

• NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched three new missions to study the Sun’s influence in the solar system.
• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) missions was launched on September 24, 2025, from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Each mission will study different effects of space weather and solar wind, a continuous stream of particles emitted by the Sun, traveling from their origin at the Sun to interstellar space.
• These three missions will help understand the Sun and its effects on Earth better than ever before. This knowledge is important because solar activities directly affect our daily lives, from power grids to GPS.

IMAP, Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, SWFO-L1

• IMAP - The IMAP mission will identify the boundary of the heliosphere, a bubble inflated by the solar wind that protects our solar system from galactic cosmic rays - an important shield that helps make our planet habitable.
• In addition, the spacecraft will sample and measure solar wind particles flowing outward from the Sun, as well as energetic particles flowing toward the boundary of our solar system and beyond.
• Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is the first mission dedicated to recording changes in the outermost layer of the atmosphere, the exosphere, which plays a crucial role in Earth’s response to space weather.
• By studying the geocorona - the ultraviolet glow emitted by the exosphere when exposed to sunlight - the Carruthers mission will reveal how the exosphere reacts to solar storms and changes with the weather.
• NOAA’s SWFO-L1, the first of its kind, is designed as a full-time operational space weather observatory.
• By keeping a constant, uninterrupted watch on solar activity and near-Earth space conditions around the clock, SWFO-L1 will provide faster and more accurate information. Space weather forecasts have improved more than ever before.
• It is the first observatory of a new generation of NOAA space weather observatories dedicated to 24/7 operations and working to eliminate any disruption in continuity.