MagnetosphericMultiscaleMission
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NASA flies four satellites in 'tightest ever' formation
NASA is boasting that it's been able to fly four giant satellites around our home in the "tightest" formation ever attempted in space. The quartet of craft are just six miles apart, and comprise the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, a project to measure Earth's magnetic fields as they swirl around us. In order to fully understand how the magnetosphere works in three-dimensional space, the satellites had to be guided to fly in the shape of a four-sided pyramid. Now, if you're struggling to see why this is such a big deal, remember that each satellite is the size of a baseball field and each one is hurtling through the abyss at 15,000 miles per hour.
Watch NASA launch its mission to the magnetosphere tonight (update)
If all goes well, NASA will finally launch its Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observatories tonight. Comprised of four identical spacecraft (shown above in a clean room), its purpose is to study the magnetic fields around Earth for information on how they connect and disconnect. The MMS is headed to areas that scientists believe are the sites where magnetic reconnection occurs, but first it has to get off the ground. The launch is scheduled for 10:44PM ET at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and all conditions are go. You can watch live on NASA TV, and a stream is embedded after the break. Update: The launch was successful and the mission is on its way, check after the break for a replay and to see more information on exactly what its satellites will be studying.
How NASA will launch four spacecraft at once to study magnetic fields
NASA has been planning to study the magnetic reconnection between the Earth and the sun for years, and now the agency has revealed how its scientists are going make it happen. Magnetic reconnection is a process that converts magnetic energy to kinetic or thermal energy. It happens all over the universe, but close to home, it occurs during solar flares, coronal mass ejections and when solar winds interact with the Earth's magnetic field, causing aurorae. In order to study and create a 3D map of the mysterious phenomenon, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission will send four spacecraft to space, which will position themselves in a pyramid.
Now NASA's thinking with portals (video)
Looks like playing games and watching sci-fi flicks didn't do the University of Iowa's Jack Scudder any harm. The NASA-funded researcher has been studying elusive magnetic portals connecting the Earth and Sun, and now he's figured out how to find them. The portals, also known as X-points in Scudder-speak, are born from the mingling of Earth's magnetic field with incoming solar winds. These astral connections create flux transfer events (we've got Doc Brown's attention) -- high-energy particle flows responsible for, among other things, the eerie twinkling of the polar auroras. Off the back of Scudder's data wizardry, NASA's planning the 2014 Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS), sending four craft into the void to observe the portals. Each spacebot is capable of locating them, and when one is found, inviting the others 'round for a study date. Taking a leaf from Scudder's book, Engadget researchers have tracked down a NASA video detailing the mission, located beyond the fold for your convenience.
