TRACERS Spacecraft Beauty Passes

  • Released Monday, March 24, 2025
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TRACERS, or the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, will help understand magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth’s atmosphere. Magnetic reconnection occurs when activity from the Sun interacts with Earth’s magnetic field. By understanding this process, scientists will be able to better understand and prepare for impacts of solar activity on Earth.

Learn more about the mission: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/tracers/

Beauty Pass – 1080

Credit: University of Iowa / Andy Kale

Vertical Pan – 1080

Credit: University of Iowa / Andy Kale

Instruments – 8K

Some of the tools TRACERS will use to study the local plasma involved in magnetic reconnection – including the EFI, MAG, MSC and MAGIC instruments – will be on arms attached to the outside of the spacecraft.

Credit: Millennium Space Systems

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Monday, March 24, 2025.
This page was last updated on Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 1:59 PM EDT.