As part of the University of Iowa Center for Advancement's Chat from the Old Cap series, Dr. Craig Kletzing, a professor in physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa and principal investigator for the UI's latest NASA mission presented a virtual engagement session on Aug. 26, 2020.

Landing the largest research award in the university's history, discussed the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission that will launch in 2023. The mission is part of a larger initiative, NASA's Explorers Program, which is studying how the sun affects space and the space environment around planets. 

Kletzing is leading a team at Iowa that is developing two scientific instruments that will be used in twin satellites for the TRACERS mission. The space plasma experimentalist is also serving on three other NASA missions and has worked on projects regarding space weather, the aurora borealis, and the Van Allen radiation belts.

Chat from the Old Cap is a series of virtual engagement sessions featuring Iowa alumni and friends sharing stories from their careers, backgrounds, and the university that unites us.