NASA launches RBSP twin satellites to radiation belts (Update)
Twin satellites rocketed into orbit Thursday on a quest to explore Earth's treacherous radiation belts and protect the planet from solar outbursts.
View ArticleTiny CREPT instrument to study the radiation belts
A smaller version of an instrument now flying on NASA's Van Allen Probes has won a coveted spot aboard an upcoming NASA-sponsored Cubesat mission—the perfect platform for this pint-size, solid-state...
View ArticleThird radiation belt can wrap around Earth, probes reveal
With the flip of a switch, a pair of instruments designed and built by the University of Colorado Boulder and flying onboard twin NASA space probes have forced the revision of a 50-year-old theory...
View ArticleNASA's BARREL mission launches 20 balloons
(Phys.org) —In Antarctica in January, 2013 – the summer at the South Pole – scientists released 20 balloons, each eight stories tall, into the air to help answer an enduring space weather question:...
View ArticleHow did a third radiation belt appear in the Earth's upper atmosphere?
(Phys.org) —Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in in the Earth's upper atmosphere in 1958, space scientists have believed that these belts consisted of two doughnut-shaped rings of...
View ArticleVan Allen Probes pinpoint driver of speeding electrons
Researchers believe they have solved a lingering mystery about how electrons within Earth's radiation belt can suddenly become energetic enough to kill orbiting satellites. Thanks to data gathered from...
View ArticleVan Allen Probes mark first anniversary with new discoveries and new...
One year after their launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:05 a.m. E DT on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, NASA's twin Van Allen Probes have already fundamentally changed how we understand the Van...
View ArticleScientists explain the formation of unusual ring of radiation in space
Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, space scientists have believed these belts encircling the Earth consist of two doughnut-shaped rings of highly charged particles—an inner...
View ArticleScientists solve a decades-old mystery in the Earth's upper atmosphere
New research published in the journal Nature resolves decades of scientific controversy over the origin of the extremely energetic particles known as ultra-relativistic electrons in the Earth's...
View ArticleVan Allen Probes show how to accelerate electrons
(Phys.org) —One of the great, unanswered questions for space weather scientists is just what creates two gigantic donuts of radiation surrounding Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts. Recent...
View ArticleGalileo satellite set for new orbit
ESA's fifth Galileo navigation satellite, one of two left in the wrong orbit this summer, will make a series of manoeuvres this month as a prelude to its health being confirmed.
View ArticleStar Trek-like invisible shield found thousands of miles above Earth
A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder has discovered an invisible shield some 7,200 miles above Earth that blocks so-called "killer electrons," which whip around the planet at near-light...
View ArticleBest of Last Week – Earth's invisible shield, a sound loud enough to bend...
(Phys.org) —It was a big week for discovery as a Star Trek-like invisible shield was found thousands of miles above Earth—it's in the Van Allen radiation belt and appears to protect the planet below...
View ArticleElectromagnetic waves linked to particle fallout in Earth's atmosphere, study...
In a new study that sheds light on space weather's impact on Earth, Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues show for the first time that plasma waves buffeting the planet's radiation belts are...
View ArticleLos Alamos provides HOPE for radiation belt storm probes
Los Alamos National Laboratory expertise in radiation detection and shielding is poised to help a national team of scientists better understand a mysterious region that can create hazardous space...
View ArticleChasing storms in space
There was probably no one looking forward to this morning with more anticipation than University of Alberta physics professor Ian Mann, when an Atlas rocket lifted a pair of NASA satellites into orbit...
View ArticleNASA-funded science balloons launch in Antarctica
In the bright light of Antarctica's summer sun, a NASA mission launched its first 18 science balloons between Dec. 27, 2013, and Feb. 2, 2014. BARREL, or the Balloon Array for Radiation belt...
View ArticleNew NASA Van Allen Probes observations helping to improve space weather models
(Phys.org) —Using data from NASA's Van Allen Probes, researchers have tested and improved a model to help forecast what's happening in the radiation environment of near-Earth space—a place seething...
View ArticleVan Allen Probes spacecraft reveal 'zebra stripe' structure in Earth's inner...
Scientists have discovered a new, persistent structure in Earth's inner radiation belt using data from the twin NASA Van Allen Probes spacecraft.
View ArticleNASA's BARREL returns successful from Antarctica
Three months, 20 balloons, and one very successful campaign: The team for NASA's BARREL – short for Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses—mission returned from Antarctica in...
View ArticleObservations and simulations improve space weather models
(Phys.org) —Los Alamos researchers and collaborators used data from NASA's Van Allen Probes to demonstrate an improved computer model to help forecast what is happening in the radiation environment of...
View ArticleNASA probes studying Earth's radiation belts to celebrate two year anniversary
(Phys.org) —NASA's twin Van Allen Probes will celebrate on Saturday two years of studying the sun's influence on our planet and near-Earth space. The probes, shortly after launch in August 2012,...
View ArticleScientists launch CubeSats into radiation belts
Twin, pintsized satellites built in part at the University of New Hampshire's Space Science Center will be launched into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:20 a.m. (EST) Thursday,...
View ArticleFor the first time, spacecraft catch a solar shockwave in the act
On Oct. 8, 2013, an explosion on the sun's surface sent a supersonic blast wave of solar wind out into space. This shockwave tore past Mercury and Venus, blitzing by the moon before streaming toward...
View ArticleVan Allen probes revolutionize view of radiation belts
About 600 miles from Earth's surface is the first of two donut-shaped electron swarms, known as the Van Allen Belts, or the radiation belts. Understanding the shape and size of the belts, which can...
View ArticleVan Allen probes catch rare glimpse of supercharged radiation belt
Our planet is nestled in the center of two immense, concentric doughnuts of powerful radiation: the Van Allen radiation belts, which harbor swarms of charged particles that are trapped by Earth's...
View ArticleResearchers discover effect of rare solar wind on Earth's radiation belts
Researchers from the University of New Hampshire have captured unique measurements of the Van Allen radiation belts, which circle the Earth, during an extremely rare solar wind event. The findings,...
View ArticleRelativistic electrons uncovered with NASA's Van Allen Probes
Earth's radiation belts, two doughnut-shaped regions of charged particles encircling our planet, were discovered more than 50 years ago, but their behavior is still not completely understood. Now, new...
View ArticleMaking waves with the hot electrons within Earth's radiation belts
Encircling the Earth, within its magnetosphere, are two concentric, doughnut-shaped radiation belts known as the Van Allen belts. The Van Allen belts swell and recede in response to incoming energy...
View ArticleNASA's Van Allen probes survive extreme radiation five years on
Most satellites, not designed to withstand high levels of particle radiation, wouldn't last a day in the Van Allen Radiation belts. Trapped by Earth's magnetic field into two giant belts around the...
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