The National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) launched its TIMED mission in 2001. The term is an abbreviation of Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics. The mission has now completed 20 years of surveying the dynamics and demographics of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Today, on the 20th anniversary of the TIMED mission, the scientific community is  reflecting on their learnings and research after two decades of its successful operation. 

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In the field of heliophysics, that is the field of the Sun-Earth system, the mission was able to contribute in great amounts. 

Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington said, “TIMED plays an important role in our heliophysics fleet. The upper atmosphere is a critical part of our Sun-Earth system and TIMED’s long-term data set has been an important part of deepening our understanding of this dynamic. It has also paved the way for our newer missions studying this region.”

Heather Futrell, program executive of TIMED, also talked about the credibility of the mission in bringing positive contribution to the field heliophysics, she said, “As the sixth oldest NASA heliophysics mission, TIMED’s findings and performance over the past 20 years have helped shape our approach to missions that have launched since then and will launch in the coming years,” she said. “Existing missions, such as ICON and GOLD, and upcoming missions, such as AWE and GDC, build on the foundation of upper atmospheric science results that TIMED provided.”

The two decades of TIMED have also given scientists a new perspective about changes in the upper atmosphere. The mission covers an altitude of 40 to 110 miles above the Earth’s surface. Moreover, the long time period of the project helps scientists keep track of short as well long term changing systems. These include changes in solar storms and the cooling of the earth’s atmosphere due to climate change, respectively. 

TIMED is a testament to the type of work we do here at NASA,” said Peg Luce, deputy director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “Twenty years is a long time and many of the people who have worked on this mission have moved on and some have retired. To all the folks that have worked on TIMED – in any capacity – thank you for your hard work and dedication. Your legacy includes an important mission that has deepened our understanding of the upper atmosphere-Sun-Earth interaction and helped shape the field of heliophysics.”

Samuel Yee, principal investigator for TIMED, also applauded the long-term impact the mission has contributed to. “In 2011, 10 years after TIMED launched, I predicted that TIMED’s findings would provide insight for years to come. Now, 20 years after launching, TIMED has changed our understanding of the upper atmosphere and how it responds to our Sun and conditions on Earth, influencing heliophysics and Earth science research forever.”

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TIMED has also enabled Ph.D to learn more about scientific domains, and has inspired them to lead their own missions in atmospheric science. 

“Looking back, working on TIMED was a magical time for me,” said Marty Mlynczak, principal investigator for TIMED’s Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument, built and operated at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. “I was in a lead role on a NASA flight mission a few years after finishing my doctorate. My Ph.D. and post-graduate research were going into orbit! I was working with the eminent scientists in the field at the time. Everyone working on TIMED had one objective: success of the mission.”

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center leads the management of the TIMED mission under Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The spacecraft was built and is being operated by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.