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Pack your bags because Goddard's "suitcase science" is taking off. Coming on the heels of two Lunar Sortie Science Opportunities (LSSO) awards for Goddard are two more, this time in the field of astrophysics. As before, the awards are funded by NASA Headquarters for studies that could result in simple, automated "suitcase science" instrument packages deployed on the lunar surface by astronauts. The first proposal, "Precision Lunar Laser Ranging", is being led by...

A rare, timely conjunction of ground-based instrumentation and a dozen satellites has helped scientists better understand how electrons in space can turn into "˜killers'. ESA's Cluster constellation has contributed crucially to the finding."˜Killer' electrons are highly energetic, negatively charged particles found in near-Earth space. They can critically, and even permanently, damage satellites in orbit, including telecommunication satellites, and pose a hazard to astronauts.Several...

Scientists have obtained the first-ever 3D picture of interconnected magnetic "˜dances' in near-Earth space, known as magnetic reconnection events.The data from ESA's Cluster satellites will help to understand better magnetic reconnection, a process related to star formation, solar explosions and the entry of solar wind energy into the near-Earth environment. Magnetic reconnection is the process whereby magnetic field lines from different magnetic domains collide and reconnect, mixing...

ESA's Cluster was in the right place and time to make a shocking discovery. The four spacecraft encountered a shock wave that kept breaking and reforming "“ predicted only in theory.On 24 January 2001, Cluster's spacecraft observed shock reformation in the Earth's magnetosphere, predicted only in theory, over 20 years ago. Cluster provided the first opportunity ever to observe such an event, the details of which have been published in a paper on 9 March this year. The shock wave that sits...

In the last year space agencies in the United States, Europe, China, Japan and India have announced their intention to resume human exploration of the Solar system, beginning with the Moon and perhaps ultimately moving on to Mars. But travel beyond the immediate vicinity of the Earth carries significant risks for astronauts, not the least of which is the exposure to sometimes high levels of radiation. Now a team of scientists at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory are set to construct an...

Cluster is providing new insights into the working of a "˜space tsunami' that plays a role in disrupting the calm and beautiful aurora, or northern lights, creating patterns of auroral dances in the sky.Generally seen in high-latitude regions such as Scandinavia or Canada, aurorae are colourful curtains of light that appear in the sky. Caused by the interaction of high-energy particles brought by the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field, they appear in many different shapes.  Early in...

So you thought Northern Lights were big in Alaska? "That's nothing," says Randy Gladstone of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "Jupiter has auroras bigger than our entire planet."Last month, Gladstone and colleagues used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to capture this picture:The purple ring traces Jupiter's X-ray auroras. Gladstone calls them "Northern Lights on steroids. They're hundreds of times more energetic than auroras on...

Using measurements of the four ESA's Cluster satellites, a study published this week in Nature Physics shows pioneering experimental evidence of magnetic reconnection also in turbulent 'plasma' around Earth.Magnetic reconnection "“ a phenomenon by which magnetic fields lines get interconnected and reconfigure themselves - is a universal process in space that plays a key role in various astrophysical phenomena such as star formation, solar explosions or the entry of solar material within the...

Plasma physicists have made an unprecedented measurement in their study of the Earth's magnetic field. Thanks to ESA's Cluster satellites they detected an electric field thought to be a key element in the process of 'magnetic reconnection'.Thanks to these measurements, obtained by the eight PEACE electron sensors onboard the four spacecraft, scientists now have their first insight into magnetic reconnection's detailed behaviour. Magnetic reconnection is a process that can occur almost...

Canadian scientists help new NASA satellite project gain a closer look at the aurora borealisAn international team of scientists -- including physicists from the University of Calgary -- will begin gathering the most detailed information yet about the ever-changing northern lights, as a multi-year research project enters its ultimate phase with the launch of five NASA satellites from Cape Canaveral next month.Researchers in the U of C's Institute for Space Research will play a critical role...