NASA mission researchers proves existence of global energy field

[ad_1]

NASA researchers affiliated with The Catholic University of America in Washington are part of an international team that has proven the existence of a global energy field, which has eluded scientists for decades.

The ambipolar electric field was detected and measured for the first time with a suborbital rocket launched from the Arctic. The findings, published in Nature, reveal the field as a fundamental force in our planet’s atmosphere.

The principal investigator and lead author of the study is NASA’s Glyn Collinson, who was a university-affiliated researcher up until the paper’s submission. Among the co-authors are Hassanali Akbari and Ellen Robertson, both university-affiliated researchers.

The ambipolar electric field was first hypothesized 60 years ago to explain the mysterious force behind the “polar wind,” a continuous outflow of charged particles from the Earth’s poles into space. The team not only confirmed and quantified the field’s strength, but also showed it shapes the sky by increasing the height and density of the ionosphere.

“It counters gravity and basically lifts the skies up. It’s like this conveyor belt that’s lifting the atmosphere into space,” said Collinson in a NASA video short documentary.

The rocket for the NASA-funded mission, named Endurance in reference to the famous Sir Ernest Shackleton Arctic expedition, was launched in May 2022 from Svalbard, Norway — the northernmost rocket range in the world. The primary instrument for the observations was a photoelectron spectrometer — new technology developed for the mission.

Ellen Robertson played a key role in conducting vacuum chamber testing of the technology before its deployment and assisted in attaching the equipment to the rocket for the launch. She also conducted initial processing of the data collected on the flight.

“The technology combined an electrostatic analyzer with a retarding potential analyzer to get sufficiently high-resolution data,” said Robertson. “The rocket carried eight of these instruments to make sure we received enough of a signal for this small measurement.”

Over the 19-minute journey, the rocket reached an altitude of 477.23 miles and collected data across a 322-mile altitude range, before plunging into the Greenland Sea. The ambipolar field is a weak force, with Endurance measuring only .55 volts in electric potential, but it has a big impact.

“A half a volt is almost nothing — it’s only about as strong as a watch battery,” Collinson said in a NASA press release. But it’s enough to explain a key part of our world and likely others.

“Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar field,” explained Collinson. “Now that we’ve finally measured it, we can begin learning how it’s shaped our planet as well as others over time.”

The NASA-funded Endurance mission was conducted through the sounding rocket program at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Andøya Space, The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association, the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council, and the Research Council of Norway made critical contributions to the study. The mission team included affiliates of Catholic U., Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Colorado at Boulder; the University of Leicester, U.K.; the University of New Hampshire; and Penn State University.

Catholic U. has a decades-long research relationship with NASA facilitated in part by close proximity to Goddard Space Flight Center. Faculty and researchers including students collaborate with NASA scientists on projects critical to advancing our knowledge of our universe.

The university is the lead institution for a $64 million cooperative agreement with NASA called the Partnership for Heliophysics and Space Environment Research and a member of the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology II, both of which provide top talent to work alongside the agency’s researchers.

[ad_1]

Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66eca6866c7a4cce85c1735f0bf7a0f4&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicherald.com%2Farticle%2Fnational%2Fnasa-mission-researchers-proves-existence-of-global-energy-field%2F&c=4085432848145846912&mkt=en-us Author : Publish date : 2024-09-19 06:25:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source .

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

NASA mission researchers proves existence of global energy field

Martinique – Guyana head to head game preview and prediction

LatAm in Focus: What Brazil’s Twitter Ban Tells Us about Internet Laws in Latin America

LatAm in Focus: What Brazil's Twitter Ban Tells Us about Internet Laws in Latin America

Jamaica Secures a Transformative $6.7 Billion Recovery Package!

Jordan Morris Dazzles with Two Goals in Exciting US Men’s Team Triumph Against Martinique!

Unlock Incredible Airline Discounts: Your Ultimate Guide to Winter Holiday Travel with the US, Brazil, Mexico, and France!

Trump’s Decision to End Humanitarian Parole: A Game Changer for Thousands of Migrants from Four Nations

Unveiling the Visionary Leaders Shaping Montserrat’s Future

US Troops Intensify Combat Drills in Panama as Venezuela Tensions Escalate

Epic Clash: Brazil and Paraguay Set for an Unforgettable Showdown!

Alarm Bells Ring: DENV-3 Raises Fears of Widespread Dengue Outbreaks in the Americas

Bad Bunny’s Daring Leap: Bringing Puerto Rico to the Super Bowl Spotlight!

Suriname Triumphs: A Historic Victory as the Nation is Declared Malaria-Free!

Categories

Archives