The Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, is a new NASA Explorer mission that will explore the boundary between Earth and space to understand the physical connection between our world and our space environment. This connection is made in the ionosphere, which has long been known to exhibit variability associated with the sun and solar wind. However, it has been recognized in the 21st century that equally significant changes in ionospheric conditions are apparently associated with energy and momentum propagating upward from our own atmosphere. ICON’s goal is to weigh the competing impacts of these two drivers as they influence our space environment. Here we describe the specific science objectives that address this goal, as well as the means by which they will be achieved. The instruments selected, the overall performance requirements of the science payload and the operational requirements are also described. ICON’s development began in 2013 and the mission is on track for launch in 2018. ICON is developed and managed by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, with key contributions from several partner institutions.

中文翻译：

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电离层连接探索者任务：任务目标和设计


电离层连接探索者（ICON）是美国宇航局的一项新探索者任务，它将探索地球和太空之间的边界，以了解我们的世界和太空环境之间的物理联系。这种联系是在电离层中进行的，人们早就知道电离层表现出与太阳和太阳风相关的变化。然而，在 21 世纪人们已经认识到，电离层条件的同样显着的变化显然与从我们自己的大气层向上传播的能量和动量有关。 ICON 的目标是权衡这两个驱动因素对我们太空环境的影响。在这里，我们描述了实现这一目标的具体科学目标，以及实现这些目标的手段。还描述了所选仪器、科学有效载荷的总体性能要求和操作要求。 ICON 的开发始于 2013 年，任务预计将于 2018 年发射。ICON 由加州大学伯克利分校空间科学实验室开发和管理，多个合作机构做出了重要贡献。