Date: 2025-11-21 00:00:00
Time: 3:30 – 4:30pm
Location: 3853 Slichter Hall
Presented By:
Rebecca L Bishop
Abstract:
The Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) mission consisted of two 1.5U CubeSat to study nighttime ionosphere/thermosphere coupling. Each CubeSat hosts three science payloads: an ionization gauge (MIGSI) to observe neutral density, a planar ion probe (PIP) to observe plasma density, and a GPS radio occultation sensor for observing (CTECS-A) total electron content. The overall mission, from proposal to on-orbit operations and science investigations, has presented a number of challenges often requiring difficult decisions and compromise in order to maximize the science returns. The various orbit and technical difficulties necessitated a modification and reprioritization of LLITED’s science mission objectives. By modifying the mission science goals, prioritizing event-associated observations, and combining data from other missions and observational conjunctions, LLITED provided insightful observations of neutral and plasma density structures and coupling. This presentation will provide an overview of LLITED’s datasets, describe the various on-going studies, and highlight observations of neutral and plasma density structures at high and mid- latitudes, as well as observations of short time stability of small-scale density structures.