NASA Mission Catching Awesome Waves in Earth's Airglow

Attached to the International Space Station, NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment, or AWE, is studying airglow, an ethereal radiance at the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space, to look for an invisible phenomenon called atmospheric gravity waves.

Caused by winds rushing over mountain ranges or severe weather events such as hurricanes, thunderstorms, and tornadoes, atmospheric gravity waves can grow and reach all the way to space, where it interacts with space weather.

Find out more about the AWE mission and how it will help us better understand the connection between weather on Earth and weather in space.