Nasa launches mission to study Earth’s magnetic field – ElTiempo.com

The US space agency (Nasa) successfully launched or na pioneered two years and 1,100 million mission to study the interaction of the magnetic field of the Earth with other celestial bodies, like the sun.

The launch took place at 22:44 local time (9:44 pm Thursday Colombian time) from NASA facilities at the base of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The four identical space observatories that make up the Magnetospheric Multiscale System (MMS), departed aboard an Atlas V rocket “Those responsible for the mission expect to receive confirmation of successful deployment of the four spacecraft around 00:29 local time (11:29 pm Thursday Colombian time), “NASA said in a statement.

The mission starts sending data to Earth in September and is scheduled to be operational for two years, although the Nasa does not rule extend its life. The mission will provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection in the Earth to the Sun, a process that will help you understand how to connect and disconnect the magnetic fields in the universe.

Scientists hope to obtain data on the structure and dynamics of the energy exchange magnetic fields when found, at which an explosive release of energy is produced.

four spacecraft, equipped with high-precision sensors, simultaneously fly in formation, at a distance of some 10 kilometers from each other, so that the combination of data permits have that three-dimensional view.

The MMS mission will use the Earth’s magnetosphere as a laboratory to study, in addition to magnetic reconnection, two fundamental processes such as acceleration of energetic particles and turbulence.

This mission will also be key to understanding how this energy exchange affects space weather and its effect on modern technological systems such as communication networks, GPS navigation and power grids.

The magnetic reconnection phenomena occurs as auroras seen in the poles when the solar wind penetrates our ‘shield’ and released energy particles entering the Earth’s magnetic field.

EFE (Washington)