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On the Cusp of Understanding – presented by Science@NASA.

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Constantly shielding us from the Sun’s high energy particles is the Earth’s magnetic field.

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Many imagine this field as a circle, slightly larger than our planet.

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But, it’s actually shaped like this.

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And near our north and south poles, there is a cusp – a point where two branches of a curve meet.

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It’s here that the magnetic bubble that surrounds us dips inward,

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creating a funnel of magnetic lines that touch down to Earth.

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This funnel allows the Sun’s high energy particles to race toward our planet and deposit themselves in our ionosphere,

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80 to 800 kilometers above Earth.

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We can even see the result - they create beautiful aurora, similar to the spectacular displays at night but on the dayside of Earth,

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and only visible to the naked eye during the long polar night.

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Now, scientists who want to learn more about effects of these particles are embarking on a special initiative

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that is taking place from December 2018 to January 2020.

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In a coordinated effort between multiple countries to understand the physics of the polar cusp,

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scientists from NASA and the US, as well as from Japan, Norway, Canada and Great Britain have launched The Grand Challenge Initiative – Cusp,

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a series of sounding rocket missions that will provide the data needed

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to conduct nine unprecedented studies of near-Earth space at the polar regions.

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This series will help scientists glean answers to a number of questions about the cusp.

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Why is our atmosphere leaking out into space from the cusp?

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How and why do the turbulent hot patches of dense plasma that exist inside the aurora region disrupt global communications?

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What sustains strong updrafts of atmospheric gas in this region that can cause enhanced drag on our satellites as they orbit?

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Doug Rowland, a space scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, explains: 

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“The cusp is a great natural laboratory to understand how Earth’s atmosphere responds

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to direct energy input from the solar wind. This kind of science can be done nowhere else on Earth.”

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12 sounding rockets conducting the nine missions will launch from two sites in Norway — Andøya Space Center and Svalbard Rocket Range.

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In some cases, launches will be conducted at nearly the same time from Andøya and Svalbard,

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providing simultaneous observations at different altitudes and latitudes.

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Why use rockets instead of satellites or weather balloons?

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Doug Rowland explains, “Rockets are ideal for taking the measurements we need.

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These rockets will be packed with monitoring instruments to capture information as they move upward in an arc,

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and on the way down too. They can gather up to fifteen consecutive minutes of direct measurements from a specific region of space,

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and you can launch them precisely. You want your rockets to fly right through the auroras just as they’re going off.

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Satellites cover a lot of area, but at high speeds they don’t spend as much time making observations of any one location.

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Balloons can’t be launched high enough and their location can’t be controlled as precisely as rockets.”

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The new data gleaned from the Grand Challenge Initiative – Cusp will help scientists make better space weather forecasts,

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and give us a better understanding of the particles responsible for one of the most breathtaking sights on our planet.

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Take the initiative to learn more by visiting science.nasa.gov.