Latest news with #magnetosphere
CBS News
7 days ago
- Science
- CBS News
NASA probes will study how solar wind triggers potentially dangerous "space weather"
SpaceX launched twin satellites for NASA Wednesday that will study how the electrically-charged solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetic field, creating constantly changing and occasionally dangerous "space weather" affecting satellites, electrical grids and other critical systems. The identical TRACERS satellites will operate in the magnetosphere, "the region around our Earth that is dominated by the planet's magnetic field, and it protects us from the stellar radiation and really from everything else that's going on in space," said Joseph Westlake, director of NASA's solar physics division. "What we will learn from TRACERS is critical for the understanding and eventually the predicting of how energy from our sun impacts the Earth and our space and ground-based assets, whether it be GPS or communication signals, power grids, space assets and our astronauts working up in space. "It's going to help us keep our way of life safe here on Earth." Hitching a ride to space along with TRACERS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket were five other small satellites, including one that will use a new "polylingual" terminal to communicate with multiple other satellites and space probes using different protocols. Another will collect data about how much solar energy Earth absorbs and reemits into space, known as the "radiation budget," and another that will focus on how high-energy "killer electrons" are knocked out of the Van Allen radiation belts to rain down into the atmosphere. Two other small satellites were aboard, including an experimental "cubesat" that will test high-speed 5G communications technology in space and another built by an Australian company carrying five small satellites to test space-based air-traffic management technology that could provide aircraft tracking and communications anywhere in the world. The mission got underway at 2:13 p.m. EDT when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared to life at launch complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the California coast. The launching one day late because of a regional power outage Tuesday that interrupted air traffic communications over the Pacific Ocean near Vandenberg. The second time around, the countdown ticked smoothly to zero and after boosting the upper stage and payloads out of the lower atmosphere, the first stage peeled away, reversed course and flew back to a landing near the launch pad. A few seconds later, the upper stage engine shut down to put the vehicle in its planned preliminary orbit. The two satellites making up the primary TRACERS payload were deployed about an hour-and-a-half after launch. Two of the other smallsats were to be released earlier in a slightly different orbit, with the remainder following TRACERS a few minutes later. TRACERS is an acronym for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites. The twin spacecraft, built by Boeing, will fly in tandem in the same orbit, 10 seconds to two minutes apart, helping researchers precisely measure rapid changes indicating how the solar wind "couples" with Earth's magnetic field. "So the Sun is a burning, fiery ball of plasma and as it burns, it blows off an exhaust that we call the solar wind, it's a plasma, and that's always streaming from the sun towards the Earth," said David Miles, principal investigator at the University of Iowa. "And sometimes, the magnetic field of the Earth basically stands it off in the same way that if you have a rock in a stream, the water kind of flows around it. But other times, those two systems couple (and) you dump mass, energy and momentum into the Earth system." That coupling drives spectacular auroral displays, "but it also drives some of the negative things that we want to... understand and mitigate, like unplanned electrical currents in our electrical grids that can potentially cause accelerated aging in electrical pipelines, disruption of GPS, things like that." "So what we're looking at trying to understand is how the coupling between those systems changes in space and in time," Miles said. The goals of the other satellites launched Wednesday range from basic science to technology development. The Polylingual Experimental Terminal, or PExT, will test equipment capable of sending and receiving data from multiple government and commercial satellites across multiple communications protocols. The goal is to streamline communications to and from a wide variety of satellites and space probes to improve efficiency and lower costs. Another satellite, known as Athena-EPIC, will continue ongoing measurements of Earth's radiation budget, the balance between solar energy coming into Earth's environment compared to the energy radiated back out into space. Using spare parts from earlier missions, Athena-EPIC will test innovative LEGO-like satellite components intended to lower costs while reducing the size of satellites. The Relativistic Atmospheric Loss, or REAL, satellite, another small cubesat, will study how electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts get knocked out of place to pose threats to satellites and other systems. Robyn Millan of Dartmouth University is the principal investigator. "The radiation belts are a region surrounding the Earth that are filled with high-energy charged particles that are traveling at near the speed of light," she said. "These are sometimes called killer electrons because these particles are a hazard for our satellites in space. They also rain down on our atmosphere where they can contribute to ozone destruction." The REAL cubesat weighs less than 10 pounds and measures just a foot long. Despite its small size, "it carries a powerful particle sensor that will for the first time make very rapid measurements of these electrons as they enter our atmosphere, and this is really critical for understanding what's scattering them." What makes REAL unique, she said, was the sensor's small size, allowing it to be carried by a cubesat, which "could enable future missions, especially those requiring constellations of satellites."
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch on NASA satellite mission: Will it be visible in Arizona sky?
The next spacecraft scheduled to launch from California is a Falcon 9 rocket. But this time, the SpaceX vehicle won't be carrying a batch of Starlink satellites. Instead, aboard the spacecraft will be twin NASA satellites that will orbit Earth in tandem while studying how the sun's powerful activity can disrupt our planet's magnetosphere. But that information may not matter much to those on the ground who just want to see a rocket thundering high overhead after getting off the ground. Visibility for those in Arizona may be tough: The next launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, is scheduled for the daylight hours – making the Falcon 9 much more unlikely to be visible as it soars upward. What's more, rocket launches can be – and often are – scrubbed or delayed due to any number of factors, including poor weather conditions or unexpected issues with spacecraft. Check back with for any updates on the rocket launch. In the meantime, here's what to know about the launch from Southern California, as well as when and where to potentially spot the rocket in neighboring Arizona: California rocket launches: SpaceX rocket launches have increased in California, and not all residents are happy What time is the SpaceX rocket launch from California? A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory indicates the launch is being targeted for Tuesday, July 22, with backup opportunities available the following day, if needed. The launch window opens at 11:13 a.m. PT, according to NASA. The Vandenberg Space Force Base has not yet provided an official launch alert. Where is the next rocket launch from California? The launch will take place from Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Most launches from Vandenberg fly at a south or southeast trajectory. What is the next mission launching from Vandenberg? SpaceX will serve as the launch service provider for a NASA mission to launch twin satellites to study solar activity's effects on Earth. The TRACERS mission (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) will make use of the company's famous two-stage 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world's most active, to get the satellites into orbit, where they will observe observe how solar wind interact with Earth's magnetosphere. How to watch SpaceX Starlink launch livestream SpaceX may provide a webcast of the Starlink launch close to liftoff time on its website, along with updates on social media site X. The company often retweets posts by its founder, Elon Musk. California rocket launch could be visible in Arizona: Where to watch Because of Arizona's proximity to the launch site, there's a good chance people there can see the spacecraft streak across the sky, especially at night or very early morning. Here's a list of some possible viewing locations compiled by The Arizona Republic, a USA TODAY Network publication. Dobbins Lookout, South Mountain, 10919 S. Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona Papago Park, 625 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, Arizona Fountain Hills, a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, which in 2018 was designated a Dark Sky Community with little light pollution Superstition Mountains, located 40 miles from metro Phoenix in Arizona Cave Creek, a town in Maricopa County about 30 miles north of Fountain Hills, Arizona Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 3400 Sky Harbor Blvd., Arizona, which has a parking garage that is popular for plane-watching Black Canyon City, an unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona Any mountain park in Arizona , 14805 W. Vineyard Ave., Goodyear, Arizona , 2600 N. Watson Road, Buckeye, Arizona , 20304 W. White Tank Mountain Road, Waddell, Arizona , 6533 W. Phillips Road, Queen Creek, Arizona Monument Hill, a 150-foot slope on 115th Avenue, in Arizona What is SpaceX? Elon Musk, the world's richest man, founded SpaceX in 2002. The commercial spaceflight company is headquartered at Starbase in South Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. The site, which is where SpaceX has been conducting routine flight tests of its 400-foot megarocket known as Starship, was recently voted by residents to become its own city. SpaceX conducts many of its own rocket launches, most using the Falcon 9 rocket, from both California and Florida. That includes a regular cadence of deliveries of Starlink internet satellites into orbit, and occasional privately-funded commercial crewed missions on the Dragon. The most recent of SpaceX's private human spaceflights, a mission known as Fram2, took place in April. SpaceX was also famously involved in funding and operating the headline-grabbing Polaris Dawn crewed commercial mission in September 2024. SpaceX additionally benefits from billions of dollars in contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense by providing launch services for classified satellites and other payloads. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: SpaceX rocket launch, NASA mission: Will people in Arizona see liftoff Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
20-07-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Astronomers Detect Entirely New Type of Plasma Wave Above Jupiter's North Pole
Since entering Jupiter's orbit in 2016, NASA's Juno spacecraft has been hard at work unveiling the many mysteries of our solar system's largest planet. And its latest discovery may be one of the most intriguing yet: an entirely new type of plasma wave near Jupiter's poles. In a paper published Wednesday in Physical Review Letters, astronomers describe an unusual pattern of plasma waves in Jupiter's magnetosphere—a magnetic 'bubble' shielding the planet from external radiation. Jupiter's exceptionally powerful magnetic field appears to be forcing two very different types of plasmas to jiggle in tandem, creating a unique flow of charged particles and atoms in its polar regions. Plasma is a key force in shaping Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere. As such, the researchers believe the new observations will further advance our understanding of not only Jupiter's weather events but also the magnetic properties of distant exoplanets. For the study, the researchers analyzed the behavior of plasma waves in Jupiter's magnetosphere containing highly magnetized, low-density plasma. The team, a collaboration between researchers from the University of Minnesota, the University of Iowa, and the Southwest Research Institute, Texas, found an unexpected oscillation between Alfvén waves and Langmuir waves, which reflect the movement of the plasma's atoms and the movement of the electrons in the plasma, respectively. Electrons are much lighter than charged atoms, meaning that, normally, the two wave types ripple at very different frequencies—which was clearly not the case for Jupiter's magnetosphere, prompting the researchers to take a closer look. The ensuing investigation unveiled a never-before-seen type of plasma oscillation near Jupiter's poles. 'The observed plasma properties are really unusual, not found before and elsewhere in our solar system,' John Leif Jørgensen, a planetary scientist at the Technical University of Denmark who wasn't involved in the new work, told New Scientist. Unlike Earth's auroras, which are caused by solar storms, Jupiter's auroras—a barrage of frisky, superfast particles that are hundreds of times more energetic than auroras on Earth—sometimes emerge as a product of its powerful magnetic field. Getting a better grasp on how such phenomena work could be valuable information for future missions in the search for alien life on exoplanets, according to the study authors. Detailed New Images of Jupiter's Aurora Reveal Strange and Unexplained Brightness 'While such conditions do not occur [on] Earth, it is possible that they apply in polar regions of the other giant planets and potentially in strongly magnetized exoplanets or stars,' the astronomers wrote in the paper. 'Jupiter is the Rosetta Stone of our solar system,' said Scott Bolton, Juno's principal investigator, in NASA's introductory page for the spacecraft. 'Juno is going there as our emissary—to interpret what Jupiter has to say.' Initially, NASA expected Juno's mission to conclude in 2017, when they would intentionally steer the spacecraft into Jupiter's atmosphere, a decision that adheres to NASA's planetary protection requirements. But Juno's flight path evolved over time, and NASA concluded that the spacecraft no longer posed a threat to Jupiter's moons. As a result, the agency authorized extensions to the mission. Heck Yes, NASA's Juno and InSight Missions Are Getting Bonus Time That being said, the scientists do believe that, by September this year, Juno's orbit will degrade naturally, and it will be gobbled up by Jupiter's atmosphere. However, this by no means ends humanity's exploration of Jupiter; Europa Clipper is slated to reach Europa, Jupiter's moon, in 2030 (the last time we checked, it did some sightseeing near Mars). Of course, even after Jupiter consumes Juno, scientists will still have loads of invaluable data from the spacecraft that they'll continue to meticulously analyze for years to come.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
2 new NASA satellites will track space weather to help keep us safe from solar storms
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A new mission set to blast off for low-Earth orbit will study magnetic storms around the Earth and learn more about how they affect our atmosphere and satellites. NASA's Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS for short, mission represents a pair of satellites that will fly in a sun-synchronous orbit — meaning they are always over the dayside of the Earth — and pass through the polar cusps. The cusps are, in essence, two holes in Earth's magnetosphere, where the field lines dip down onto the magnetic poles. When an influx of solar wind particles slam into Earth's magnetosphere, they can overload the magnetic-field lines, causing them to snap, disconnect and then reconnect. Magnetic reconnection, as the process is called, can release energy that accelerates charged particles down the funnel-shaped cusps and into our atmosphere, where they collide with molecules and, if a solar storm is intense enough, generate auroral lights. When TRACERS launches — expected to be no earlier than late July — it will seek to learn more about the magnetic-reconnection process and how space weather affects our planet. "What we'll learn from TRACERS is critical for understanding, and eventually predicting, how energy from our sun impacts not only the Earth, but also our space- and ground-based assets, whether it be GPS or communications signals, power grids, space assets or our astronauts working in space," said Joe Westlake, Director of NASA's Heliophysics Division, in a NASA teleconference. Historically, the problem in studying magnetic reconnection has been that when a satellite flies through the region of reconnection and captures data, all it sees is a snapshot. Then, 90 minutes or so later on its next orbit, it takes another snapshot. In that elapsed time, the region may have changed, but it's impossible to tell from those snapshots why it's different. It could be because the system itself is changing, or the magnetic-reconnection coupling process between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere is moving about — or maybe it is switching on and off. "These are fundamental things that we need to understand," said TRACERS' principal investigator, David Miles of the University of Iowa, in the same teleconference. That's why TRACERS is important, because it is two satellites working in tandem rather than being a lone magnetic explorer. "They're going to follow each other at a very close separation," said Miles. "So, one spacecraft goes through, and within two minutes the second spacecraft comes through, and that gives us two closely spaced measurements." RELATED STORIES — Colossal eruption carves 250,000-mile-long 'canyon of fire' into the sun (video) — May 2024 solar storm cost $500 million in damages to farmers, new study reveals — 'We don't know how bad it could get': Are we ready for the worst space weather? Together, the twin spacecraft will measure the magnetic- and electric-field strengths where magnetic reconnection is taking place, as well as what the local ions and electrons trapped in the magnetosphere are doing. "What TRACERS is going to study is how the output of the sun couples to near-Earth space," said Miles. "What we're looking to understand is how the coupling between those systems changes in space and in time." TRACERS will not be alone out there, and will be able to work with other missions already in operation, such as NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMM), that studies reconnection from farther afield than TRACERS' low-Earth orbit 590 kilometers above our heads. There's also NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE), which both study solar-wind interactions with our planet from low-Earth orbit. "TRACERS joins the fleet of current heliophysics missions that are actively increasing our understanding of the sun, space weather, and how to mitigate its impacts," said Westlake. The $170 million TRACERS is set to launch no earlier than the end of July on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will be carrying several other small missions into orbit at the same time. The answers that TRACERS could provide about how magnetic reconnection works will allow scientists to better protect critical infrastructure for when solar storms hit. "It's going to help us keep our way of life safe here on Earth," said Westlake. Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
16-06-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
A Closer Look At Uranus's Moons Reveals a Surprising Dark Side
The moons that orbit Uranus are already known to have unusual characteristics: some are heavily cratered, others have tectonic features or a patchwork of ridges and cliffs. Using the Hubble space telescope, scientists took a closer look at the surface of Uranus's four largest moons and discovered something rather unexpected. For the study, a team of astronomers went searching for signs of interactions between Uranus's magnetic field and its four largest moons: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. The moons, all named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare, are all tidally locked. That means one side of the moon, the leading side, is always facing the planet, while the other one, the trailing side, always facing away from Uranus. Scientists had long assumed that the leading side would be brighter, while the trailing side would appear darker. Instead, they found it to be quite the opposite, discovering clear evidence for the darkening of the leading sides of the outer moons. The findings, presented this week at the 246th American Astronomical Society meeting, held in Anchorage, Alaska, indicate that Uranus' magnetosphere might not interact much with its large moons, despite previous data suggesting otherwise. 'Uranus is weird, so it's always been uncertain how much the magnetic field actually interacts with its satellites,' Richard Cartwright, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, and principal investigator behind the new study, said in a statement. The ice giant is indeed a certified weirdo. Uranus is tilted 98 degrees, making it the only planet in the solar system with an equator nearly at a right angle to its orbit. A single day on Uranus is around 17 hours, the amount of time it takes for the planet to rotate on its axis. The planet completes one orbit around the Sun every 84 Earth years. 'At the time of the Voyager 2 flyby [in 1986], the magnetosphere of Uranus was tilted by about 59 degrees from the orbital plane of the satellites,' Cartwright explained. 'So, there's an additional tilt to the magnetic field.' Uranus and its magnetic field lines rotate faster than its moons orbit the planet, causing the magnetic field lines to constantly sweep past the moons. As a result, scientists believed that charged particles from the planet's magnetic field, or magnetosphere, should hit the surface of the trailing sides of the moons. Those charged particles would accumulate on the moons' trailing sides, scattering radiation and thereby making them appear darker on the side that's facing away from Uranus. Using Hubble's ultraviolet capabilities, the scientists behind the study found that the leading and trailing hemispheres of Ariel and Umbriel are actually very similar in brightness. For Titania and Oberon, it was the opposite of what they expected. The leading hemispheres of the two outer moons were darker and redder compared to their trailing hemispheres. The team of scientists came up with an explanation for the strange phenomenon. Uranus's irregular moons, small distant bodies with eccentric orbits, are constantly being hit by micrometeorites and ejecting some of that material into orbit around the planet. Over millions of years, that material moves inward toward the orbits of Titania and Oberon. As the moons orbit Uranus, they pick up the dust 'much like bugs hitting the windshield of your car as you drive down a highway,' according to a statement by the Space Telescope Science Institute. All that build-up might be what's causing Titania and Oberon to appear darker and redder. 'So that supports a different explanation,' Cartwright said. 'That's dust collection. I didn't even expect to get into that hypothesis, but you know, data always surprise you.' As for the two other moons, Ariel and Umbriel, it may be that Uranus's magnetosphere does interact with them but not in a way that's resulting in a bright and dark side. The recent discovery adds more mystery to Uranus and its system.
