The quaternity of space vehicle task with monitoring place weather are now in a tiny Great Pyramid of satellites flying in a tighter constitution than ever attempted before .
TheMagnetospheric Multiscale mission(MMS ) is a NASA task to quantify magnetic reconnection , which will in turn hopefully lead to good prediction of solar storms . The satellites are in a tight tetrahedral configuration , each satellite at the triangle of a four - sided pyramid . The satellites are just 9.6 kilometers ( 6 mi ) aside , closer than any satellites have ever menstruate before in a unchanging constellation . To be even more impressive , the satellites have their booms full extended , each taking up the same area as a baseball stadium while doing this illusion vaporize at a astounding 24,140 kilometer per hour ( 15,000 knot per hour ) .
The Earth ’s magnetised field under bombardment on July 15 to 16 , 2012 with several magnetic reconnection events . Gif draw out from video recording byNASA / CCMC / Bridgman
The Magnetospheric Multiscale satellite vanish in a tetrahedron to record variation in the Earth ’s magnetosphere in three dimensions as it changes over time . The ambition is to appraise magnetised reconnection , how the Earth ’s magnetic field connects and disconnects and the subsequentexplosion of high - muscularity particles . While these particles can put ongorgeous lightshows as colorful aurora , theelectromagnetic storms can also be dangerous to vulnerable electrical system .
stylised conception art of magnetic reconnection , when misaligned magnetized theatre lines come in contact and explosively realign . Image credit : NASA / Goddard / Duberstein
The delegacy launch in March 2015 , moved into the tetrahedral formation in July , and completed instrument checkout time and commission on August 31st . The satellites have been go progressively closer together ; now they ’re at the tightest formation it ’s time for missionary work scientist to decide what the optimal spatial arrangement is to memorialise magnetic reconnection event .
[ NASA ]
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