Feb 28 2013

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 13-065 - NASA'S VAN ALLEN PROBES REVEAL A NEW RADIATION BELT AROUND EARTH --WASHINGTON -- NASA's Van Allen Probes mission has discovered a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth, revealing the existence of unexpected structures and processes within these hazardous regions of space. Previous observations of Earth's Van Allen belts have long documented two distinct regions of trapped radiation surrounding our planet. Particle detection instruments aboard the twin Van Allen Probes, launched Aug. 30, quickly revealed to scientists the existence of this new, transient, third radiation belt. The belts, named for their discoverer, James Van Allen, are critical regions for modern society, which is dependent on many space-based technologies. The Van Allen belts are affected by solar storms and space weather and can swell dramatically. When this occurs, they can pose dangers to communications and GPS satellites, as well as humans in space. The fantastic new capabilities and advances in technology in the Van Allen Probes have allowed scientists to see in unprecedented detail how the radiation belts are populated with charged particles and will provide insight on what causes them to change, and how these processes affect the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere, said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington. This discovery shows the dynamic and variable nature of the radiation belts and improves our understanding of how they respond to solar activity. The findings, published Thursday in the journal Science, are the result of data gathered by the first dual-spacecraft mission to fly through our planet's radiation belts. The new high-resolution observations by the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) instrument, part of the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT) aboard the Van Allen Probes, revealed there can be three distinct, long-lasting belt structures with the emergence of a second empty slot region, or space, in between. This is the first time we have had such high-resolution instruments look at time, space and energy together in the outer belt, said Daniel Baker, lead author of the study and REPT instrument lead at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado in Boulder. "Previous observations of the outer radiation belt only resolved it as a single blurry element. When we turned REPT on just two days after launch, a powerful electron acceleration event was already in progress, and we clearly saw the new belt and new slot between it and the outer belt." Scientists observed the third belt for four weeks before a powerful interplanetary shock wave from the sun annihilated it. Observations were made by scientists from institutions including LASP; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.; and the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Each Van Allen Probe carries an identical set of five instrument suites that allow scientists to gather data on the belts in unprecedented detail. The data are important for the study of the effect of space weather on Earth, as well as fundamental physical processes observed around other objects, such as planets in our solar system and distant nebulae. Even 55 years after their discovery, the Earth's radiation belts still are capable of surprising us and still have mysteries to discover and explain, said Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "We thought we knew the radiation belts, but we don't. The advances in technology and detection made by NASA in this mission already have had an almost immediate impact on basic science." The Van Allen Probes are the second mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program to explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. Goddard manages the program. The Applied Physics Laboratory built the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-038 - NASA HELPS TAKOMA PARK CELEBRATE SPACE DAY 2013 --WASHINGTON -- The mayor of Takoma Park, Md., has proclaimed Saturday, March 2, "Space Day in Takoma Park." NASA's education program will be on hand to help inspire the next generation of explorers. Space Day events will take place at the Takoma Park Community Center, located at 7500 Maple Avenue. NASA activities will take place at 12-2 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Bruce Williams, mayor of the small town just north of Washington, issued a proclamation to bring attention to space and astronomy, as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and to encourage the residents of Takoma Park to take advantage of this unique experience. NASA will provide space-related exhibits and experts to engage both children and adults. In addition, NASA Associate Administrator for Education and two-time space shuttle astronaut Leland Melvin will be available to talk with students and explain the exciting benefits of studying STEM courses. The explorers of tomorrow are taking STEM courses today, and they have a bright future ahead of them, said Melvin. "When I get a chance to interact with these eager scientists and engineers in training, I often wonder if one of them will take the first footsteps on the Martian surface."

MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-040 - NASA ASTRONAUT CHRIS CASSIDY AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS BEFORE SPACE STATION MISSION --HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy of Maine, who is making final preparations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, for a March launch to the International Space Station, will be available for live satellite interviews from 5 to 6 a.m. CST Friday, March 8. The interviews will originate from Star City, and will be preceded at 4:30 a.m. by a video b-roll feed of Cassidy's mission training and previous spaceflight. To participate in the interviews, reporters should contact Karen Svetaka at 281-483-8684 no later than 1 p.m., Thursday, March 7. Cassidy is a Navy SEAL and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He served in worldwide deployments supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan prior to joining NASA in 2004. Cassidy previously flew in space as a mission specialist aboard space shuttle Endeavour on STS-127 in 2009. On that mission Cassidy completed three spacewalks during the construction of the space station. Cassidy will launch with Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). The trio is set to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:43 p.m. CDT March 28 (2:43 a.m. March 29 Baikonur time). They are scheduled to return to Earth Sept. 11. This launch will be the first time in the 12-year history of the space station a spacecraft carrying crew will dock to the outpost within hours of launching. Approximately six hours after launch, and several orbits around Earth, the crew will dock and enter the station. When they arrive, the trio will join NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Canadian Space Agency astronaut and Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, who launched to the station in December 2012. The six-person crew will participate in several hundred experiments in biology and biotechnology, physical science and Earth science during their almost six month space mission.