NASA has launched two new satellites, Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS), to study magnetic storms around the Earth and learn more about how they affect our atmosphere and satellites. The satellites will track space weather and help keep us safe from solar storms.
The TRACERS mission represents a pair of satellites that will fly in a sun-synchronous orbit, passing through the polar cusps where the field lines dip down onto the magnetic poles. As solar wind particles slam into Earth’s magnetosphere, they can overload the magnetic-field lines, causing them to snap and reconnect. This process can release energy that accelerates charged particles into our atmosphere.
The TRACERS satellites will seek to learn more about the magnetic-reconnection process and how space weather affects our planet. With two closely spaced measurements, one spacecraft will go through a region of reconnection while its twin follows at a very close separation. This allows for a more detailed understanding of how the output of the sun couples to near-Earth space.
The $170 million TRACERS mission joins other NASA missions studying solar-wind interactions with our planet from low-Earth orbit, including Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission and Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere. By providing answers about magnetic reconnection, scientists can better protect critical infrastructure during solar storms.
According to Joe Westlake, Director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division, “TRACERS is critical for understanding and predicting how energy from our sun impacts not only the Earth, but also our space- and ground-based assets.” The mission will help keep our way of life safe on Earth.
Source: https://www.space.com/astronomy/2-new-nasa-satellites-will-track-space-weather-to-help-keep-us-safe-from-solar-storms