NASA reports that ground controllers power down the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) instrument on May 21, ending the mission’s data-collection phase as scheduled. AWE is installed on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) and has been operating since November 2023. The mission is designed to study atmospheric gravity waves—large-scale ripples in Earth’s atmosphere—and how they can influence space weather. NASA says the instrument completes its planned run and collects data for longer than the original two-year mission duration, marking a successful conclusion to the experiment’s objectives during that timeframe. The Phys.org report echoes NASA’s account, stating that the May 21 shutdown brings the data-collection effort to an end and that the mission finishes on schedule after exceeding its planned duration. Both sources describe the shutdown as a routine end to operations rather than a failure or unexpected termination, and both place AWE on the ISS in the same installation window and mission timeframe.