Van Allen Probes Stories
Ten Highlights From NASA’s Van Allen Probes Mission
After seven years of operations, and upon finally running out of propellant, the second of the twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft will be retired on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. Spacecraft A of the Van Allen Probes mission will be shut…
First of Two Van Allen Probes Spacecraft Ceases Operations
On July 19, 2019, at 1:27 p.m. EDT, mission operators sent a shutdown command to one of two Van Allen Probes spacecraft, known as spacecraft B, from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland. As…
NASA’s Van Allen Probes Begin Final Phase of Exploration in Earth’s Radiation Belts
Two tough, resilient, NASA spacecraft have been orbiting Earth for the past six and a half years, flying repeatedly through a hazardous zone of charged particles around our planet called the Van Allen radiation belts. The twin Van Allen Probes,…
The Case of the Relativistic Particles Solved with NASA Missions
Encircling Earth are two enormous rings — called the Van Allen radiation belts — of highly energized ions and electrons. Various processes can accelerate these particles to relativistic speeds, which endanger spacecraft unlucky enough to enter these giant bands of…
Studying the Van Allen Belts 60 Years After America’s First Spacecraft
Tick, tick, tick. The device — a Geiger counter strapped to a miniature tape recorder — was registering radiation levels a thousand times greater than anyone expected. As the instrument moved higher, more than 900 miles above the surface, the…
All Missions On Board for NASA Heliophysics Research
Scientists have been studying the near-Earth environment for the better part of a century, but many mysteries — like where the energetic particles that pervade the area originate and become energized — still remain. In a new type of collaborative…
NASA’s Van Allen Probes Survive Extreme Radiation Five Years On
Most satellites, not designed to withstand high levels of particle radiation, wouldn’t last a day in the Van Allen Radiation belts. Trapped by Earth’s magnetic field into two giant belts around the planet, high-energy particles in the region can batter…
NASA Mission Surfs through Waves in Space to Understand Space Weather
The space surrounding our planet is full of restless charged particles and roiling electric and magnetic fields, which create waves around Earth. One type of wave, plasmaspheric hiss, is particularly important for removing charged particles from the Van Allen radiation…
Space Weather Events Linked to Human Activity
Our Cold War history is now offering scientists a chance to better understand the complex space system that surrounds us. Space weather — which can include changes in Earth’s magnetic environment — are usually triggered by the sun’s activity, but…
NASA’s Van Allen Probes Spot Man-Made Barrier Shrouding Earth
Humans have long been shaping Earth’s landscape, but now scientists know we can shape our near-space environment as well. A certain type of communications — very low frequency, or VLF, radio communications — have been found to interact with particles…