A brief recent note in Space News reported that after completing nearly six years of continuous observation, the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere Dec. 13. SNOE remained fully functional throughout its mission and was still making observations during the final possible contact prior to its re-entry, which was a natural consequence of atmospheric drag. While scientists in the community regret this inevitable end of a little workhorse of a satellite, we are quite joyful about, and take great pride in, the many remarkable accomplishments of the SNOE mission. The primary goals of SNOE were to determine the magnitude and variability of Nitric Oxide in the lower thermosphere and to determine the relationship between Nitric Oxide and the energetic inputs to the atmosphere that create it and SNOE far exceeded all reasonable expectations.
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