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The Firefly Cubesat mission is a nano satellite mission, called 'Firefly,' sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
It will explore the relationship between lightning and these sudden bursts, called Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes (TGFs).
TGFs are likely produced by beams of very energetic electrons, which are accelerated in the intense electric fields generated by large thunderstorm systems. Before CGRO, many scientists thought these very energetic types of radiation could be generated only near the Sun, or in black holes, large galaxies, or neutron stars.
"These electron beams are more powerful than any produced in near-Earth space, and understanding their acceleration mechanisms will shed light on a physical process that may occur on other planets, or in astrophysical environments, as well as in the sun's corona," said Doug Rowland, principal investigator for the Firefly mission at NASA Goddard's Space Weather Laboratory.
