NASA Satellites to Probe Earth’s Magnetic Shield, Potentially Improving Satellite Safety and Communications

A new NASA mission launching later this month could bring major improvements to how scientists understand and predict disruptions in Earth’s space environment — which can interfere with satellites, power grids, and astronauts’ safety. The Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS, will study how magnetic explosions triggered by solar winds affect Earth’s magnetic field.

The twin TRACERS satellites are set to orbit from pole to pole, collecting data on magnetic reconnection — a process where magnetic field lines break and reconnect, causing charged particles from the Sun to be directed toward Earth. These events can disturb the magnetosphere, which is Earth’s natural shield against solar radiation. By studying these phenomena, TRACERS will help improve forecasting of space weather events that can damage satellites, disrupt communications, and increase radiation exposure for astronauts and airline passengers on polar routes.

Also aboard the same SpaceX Falcon 9 launch are three additional NASA-funded research payloads. These include the Athena EPIC SmallSat, which is expected to demonstrate quicker and more cost-effective deployment of Earth-observing instruments; the Polylingual Experimental Terminal, designed to test advanced inter-network space communications; and the REAL CubeSat, which will analyze how radiation particles dissipate in Earth’s upper atmosphere, with the goal of helping shield vital satellite systems.

The launch will take place from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California no earlier than late July. The mission is led by the University of Iowa in collaboration with institutions including the University of California (Berkeley and Los Angeles), Dartmouth College, and the Southwest Research Institute. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Kennedy Space Center are managing the mission through the Heliophysics Explorers Program and the Venture-class Launch Services contracts, respectively.

The TRACERS mission and its fellow payloads mark another step in NASA’s efforts to safeguard space-based infrastructure and enhance the reliability of technologies that depend on it. The public can listen to a media briefing about the launch on NASA’s live stream at nasa.gov/live at 11 a.m. EDT on July 17.

Article by multiple contributors, based upon information from NASA Headquarters and the Goddard Space Flight Center press release.

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