Connor A. Feltman

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I am presently a graduate student researcher pursuing a PhD at the University of Iowa, specializing in experimental space plasma physics of the aurora. I study magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, Alfvén wave-particle acceleration and ionospheric auroral physics using Sounding Rockets.

The Auroral Current and Electrodynamics Structures II (ACES-II) Sounding Rocket Campaign

Launched 100 seconds apart from Andøya rocket range at Andøya, Norway on Nov 20th 2022 at 17:20:00 UTC, these two rockets are trying to study the electrodynamic behavior of ionospheric currents, which exist when Earth's magnetic field allows particles to impact our atmosphere and light up the sky i.e. the aurora. The majority of my PhD work has been studying the results of this mission by analyzing the electric and magnetic fields instruments as well as the electron particle electrostatic analyzers. You can read more about it here.

Below is a video of the dual launches from an iPhone 11. Apologies for the profanity.

Tandem Reconnection And Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS)

The TRACERS mission goal is to finally answer fundamental questions regarding the phenomena of magnetic reconnection that is integral to the electrodynamics of our planet. This mission is the largest (most expensive) mission ever developed at the University of Iowa, with a budget exceeding $115 million for a small explorers (SMEX) mission. The top-hat style electrostatic analyzer electron instrument (ACE) is being developed at Iowa City, IA. Due to the similarities between the electron detectors developed for the ACES-II Sound Rockets and the TRACERS ACE instrument, I have been involved in TRACERS hardware testing and debugging process. TRACERS will be launch-ready by April 13th, 2025 using a Falcon 9 rocket. Read more about it here.