Aug. 9, 2012
J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov
Geoffrey Brown
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel Md.
240-228-5618 or 443-778-5618
geoffrey.brown@jhuapl.edu
RELEASE: 12-272
NEW NASA MISSION READY TO BRAVE EARTH'S RADIATION BELTS
WASHINGTON -- NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission will
send two spacecraft into the harsh environment of our planet's
radiation belts. Final preparations have begun for launch on
Thursday, Aug. 23, from Florida's Space Coast.
The RBSP spacecraft are designed to fly and operate in the heart of
the most hazardous regions of near-Earth space to collect crucial
data. The data will help researchers develop an understanding of the
Van Allen radiation belts, two rings of very high energy electrons
and protons that can pose hazards to human and robotic explorers.
"At the end of this month we will turn our attention from planet Mars
to planet Earth, both immersed in the atmosphere of our sun," said
Barbara Giles, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "RBSP will
further explore the connection of solar variability and its impacts
on Earth's radiation belts."
RBSP will help scientists understand how the invisible radiation belts
-- named for James Van Allen, who discovered them -- behave and react
to changes in the sun, thereby contributing to Earth's space weather.
Space weather is caused in great part by the sun's influence on Earth
and near-Earth space, including solar events such as giant eruptions
of solar material called coronal mass ejections.
"The dramatic dynamics of Earth's radiation belts caused by space
weather are highly unpredictable," said Barry Mauk, RBSP project
scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
(APL) in Laurel, Md. "One of the fundamental objectives of the RBSP
mission is to use Earth's magnetosphere as a natural laboratory to
understand generally how radiation is created and evolves throughout
the universe. There are many mysteries that need to be resolved."
Space weather fluctuations can increase radiation exposure for pilots
and passengers during polar aircraft flights. They also can disable
satellites, cause power grid failures, and disrupt the Global
Positioning System, television and telecommunications signals.
Understanding the science of space weather will lead to better space
weather predictions, which in turn will allow us to better manage and
protect our technological infrastructure in space and on the ground.
The spacecraft are atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
currently being prepared to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, Fla.
"Everything is ready and prepared for RBSP to launch as scheduled,"
said Richard Fitzgerald, RBSP project manager at APL. "Both the twin
spacecraft and the entire RBSP team are eager to begin their
exploration of one of the most dangerous parts of space near our
planet."
The mission will last two years. The spacecraft, carrying the best and
most comprehensive instrumentation ever sent into the radiation
belts, will fly through surging and swelling belts of energized
particles that would damage ordinary spacecraft. By using a pair of
probes flying in highly elliptical orbits, scientists will be able to
study the radiation belts over space and time, learn how particles
within the belts are produced and behave during space weather events,
and what mechanisms drive the acceleration of the particles.
RBSP is part of NASA's Living With a Star Program to explore aspects
of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and
society. LWS is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md. APL built the RBSP spacecraft and will manage the
mission for NASA.
For more information about NASA's RBSP mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp
-end-
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