Smile's light ion analyser working well in space

This is the first data to be shown from the light ion analyser (LIA) instrument on the European-Chinese Smile mission. LIA is collecting solar wind particles with two sensors to measure the Sun's attack (the solar wind) against the Earth's defence (its magnetosphere).

Led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, LIA was switched on on 30 June 2026. This graph shows the number of particles that LIA measured with different energies on 11 August between midnight and 22:38.

More information about Smile’s in-space commissioning and preparations for science

[Image description: A graph of energy (y-axis) against time (x-axis). The energy is measured in eV, or electronvolts, and spans 102 to 104. Time spans 08-11 (11 August) 00:01 to 08-11 (11 August) 22:38. On the right of the graph is a coloured scale bar labelled 'Count rate [s-1]' (or counts per second) that covers the colour range blue to red through green, yellow and orange. The lowest counts are blue, the highest counts are red. The graph itself is one big rectangle of colour. The base colour is blue, with red at the very centre horizontally (around 103 electronvolts) and yellow-green around the red horizontal line. Overall the impression is that the most particles measured have energies of 103 electronvolts, some have energies of 102 or 104 electronvolts, and fewer have energies below or above this range.]