Smile spacecraft (artist impression)

Smile will reveal how Earth's magnetic field reacts to the relentless streams of particles and bursts of energy that the Sun constantly throws in our direction. It will give humankind its first complete look at how the solar wind leads to geomagnetic storms and auroras.

Smile’s scientific toolbox is particularly special because each of its four instruments will collect a vital puzzle piece of information that, when combined with information from the other three instruments, will reveal our magnetosphere in a new light.

Earth's magnetic field is invisible to our eyes, but with its X-ray camera (blue cone), Smile will reveal this shield that protects us from the Sun. With its ultraviolet camera (yellow cone), Smile will record the northern lights for up to 44 hours at a time, to see how the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field causes a reaction in the form of the auroras.

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

[Image description: A GIF showing a gold spacecraft with solar panels outstretched, in space. From the viewer's perspective we are rotating around the spacecraft to see it from all angles. Emanating from the spacecraft are two beams showing the views of two of Smile's scientific instruments.]