NASA launches 4 spacecraft to solve magnetic mystery

Source: Associated Press

NASA launches 4 spacecraft to solve magnetic mystery
By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer | March 12, 2015 | Updated: March 12, 2015 10:04pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA launched four identical spacecraft Thursday on a billion-dollar mission to study the explosive give-and-take of the Earth and sun's magnetic fields.

The unmanned Atlas rocket — and NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft — soared into a clear late-night sky, right on time, to cheers and applause.

The quartet of observatories will be placed into an oblong orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles into the magnetosphere — nearly halfway to the moon at one point. They will fly in pyramid formation, between 6 miles and 250 miles apart, to provide 3-D views of magnetic reconnection on the smallest of scales.

Magnetic reconnection is what happens when magnetic fields like those around Earth and the sun come together, break apart, then come together again, releasing vast energy. This repeated process drives the aurora, as well as solar storms that can disrupt communications and power on Earth. Data from this two-year mission should help scientists better understand so-called space weather.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/NASA-set-to-launch-4-spacecraft-to-solve-magnetic-6130037.php