NASA launches twin satellites to study magnetic explosions in space

NASA launched a new mission Wednesday designed to study magnetic explosions in space that occur when the Sun's magnetic field interacts with the Earth's magnetic shield, reported Xinhua. The mission, known as TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites), consists of two satellites about the size of washing machines and aims to "study space weather," said NASA. The spacecraft was launched at 11:13 a.m. local time (1813 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the U.S. state of California. Once in orbit, the TRACERS satellites will study how the solar wind -- a continuous flow of electrically charged particles from the Sun -- interacts with the Earth's magnetosphere, the magnetic field that protects the planet from the brunt of solar radiation, according to NASA. "As the solar wind collides with Earth's magnetic field, this interaction builds up energy that can cause the magnetic field lines to snap and explosively fling away nearby particles at high speeds -- this is magnetic reconnection," said John Dorelli, TRACERS mission science lead at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the U.S. state of Maryland. "The TRACERS mission demonstrates how you can use multi-spacecraft technology to get a picture of how things are moving and evolving," said David Miles, TRACERS mission principal investigator at the University of Iowa. The mission also carries other satellites and spacecraft, including SEOPS' Epic Athena, Skykraft's Skykraft 4, Maverick Space Systems' REAL, Tyvak's LIDE, and York Space Systems' Bard, according to SpaceX.

7/24/2025 4:01:42 AM

Daily Finland

NASA launches twin satellites to study magnetic explosions in space

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