NASA’s GNEISS Mission Will Map Electric Currents Behind the Aurora

In the near future, NASA plans to send a mission from Alaska to explore the electric currents behind the aurora, also referred to as the northern lights, aurora borealis. This mission, named the Geophysical Non-Equilibrium Ionospheric System Science (GNEISS), will be done with the help of two rockets and a technique similar to a CT scan. With a launch date set for early February 2026, the mission will come from Poker Flat in Alaska.

Mapping the aurora's currents

According to NASA, aurora is formed by the fall of electrons from space, which light up the atmosphere as if from a bulb. For the electrons to light the auroras, they must follow a circular path, and the path is randomly directed. The GNEISS mission plans to overcome the problem by sending twin rockets through the auroral arc, each deploying four sub-payloads and sending radio messages to receivers on the ground. The plasma interferes with the messages, just as tissues in the body affect the beams from a computer tomography scanner, and this effect is analysed to determine the density and the direction of the electrons.

Implications for space weather

The study of auroral currents plays a vital role in understanding space weather phenomena. The currents direct energy transmission to the upper atmosphere, which results in heating and turbulence creation that impacts satellite operations. Scientists aim to develop A method for predicting aurora effects by combining GNEISS measurements with data from NASA's EZIE satellite, which launched in March 2025. NASA will send another rocket mission to investigate the enigmatic "black auroras", which appear as dark areas that scientists believe indicate current flow reversal points.