Earth is a big magnet. Our planet is surrounded by a magnetic field and has two powerful magnetic poles. Magnets are used in our everyday lives in computers and other electronics. The strong relationship between electricity and magnets has been fascinating researchers for generations. While NASA scientists do not know the exact cause of Earth's powerful magnetic field, they do know magnets are the key to many future discoveries.
Imagine traveling through space in your own protected bubble. NASA is funding research for magnetospheres, which are protective magnetic fields around many planets in our solar system. The magnetosphere around Earth protects us from the harsh and deadly power of the sun. Researchers are exploring the possibility of creating magnetic bubbles to protect spacecraft.
The official name of this project is Mini-Magnetosphere Plasma Propulsion. The title sums up the challenges of this experiment of creating a magnetic field and propelling it through space. The researchers use ionized gas as the plasma that inflates the magnetic bubble. In the future, these magnetic bubbles could protect space probes, and maybe even space travelers, from solar winds and unpredictable solar flares.
Orbiting Earth every 90 minutes, the International Space Station is home to several NASA experiments. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is on the cutting edge of particle physics research, helping astronauts collect information from beyond our galaxy.
This experiment has been organized by the U.S. Department of Energy and involves the efforts of 16 countries. This highly advanced and sensitive machine is looking for information that may help scientists understand how the universe was formed and how future spacecraft can safely navigate the outer reaches of our solar system.
One NASA experiment conducted with the space shuttle program was the Space Tether Experiment. A spherical satellite was connected to a conducting cable and designed to be dragged through space by a space shuttle. As the tether was dragged through Earth's magnetic field, it would produce an electrical current that had the potential to the power equipment in the shuttle. Unfortunately, the experiment went awry when the tether snapped. Although not the outcome they had hoped for, researchers gathered valuable information about the atmosphere of deep space by studying the frayed cable.