NASA
The Faint Young Star Paradox: Solar Storms May Have Been Key to Life on Earth
Our sun's adolescence was stormy—and new evidence shows that these tempests may have been just the key to seeding life as we know it on Earth. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Genna Duberstein on / /
NASA
Supercharging the Radiation Belts
On March 17, 2015, an interplanetary shock – a shockwave created by the driving force of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, from the sun – struck the outermost radiation belt, triggering the greatest geomagnetic storm of the preceding...
NASA
First Map of Mars Electric Currents
Five years after NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft entered into orbit around Mars, data from the mission has led to the creation of a map of electric current systems in the Martian atmosphere. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a protective global magnetic...
NASA
NASA | Tracking Energy through Space
Simulation courtesy of J. Raeder/UNH. This short video features commentary by David Sibeck, project scientist for the THEMIS mission, discussing a visualization of reconnection fronts. Taking advantage of an unprecedented alignment of...
NASA
NASA | MMS Science Overview: The Many Mysteries of MMS
Scientists Michael Hesse and John Dorelli explain the science objectives of the MMS mission. The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is comprised of four identically instrumented spacecraft that will use Earth’s magnetosphere as a...
NASA
NASA | MMS Mission Overview
Senior Project Scientist Tom Moore outlines the three instrument suites onboard the four MMS spacecraft. On March 12, 2015, NASA plans to launch the Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft...
Next Animation Studio
Short circuits in magnetosphere cause radiation spots on Earth
Scientists are starting to understand how solar storms use currents in Earth’s magnetic shield to land some punches.
NASA
NASA | MMS Engineering Challenges
It's hard enough to build one spacecraft, but the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) is building four. Together, the spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of magnetic reconnection, when magnetic fields explosively connect and...
Next Animation Studio
Uranus’s ionized gas leak seen for the first time by Voyager 2 decades ago: NASA
Writing in the Geophysical Research Letters, NASA says a review of Voyager 2’s old data from 1986 showed that Uranus vented a giant blob of gas into space.
NASA
NASA | MMS Mission Trailer
In March 2015, NASA will launch four identical spacecraft to study how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy -- a process known as magnetic reconnection. The Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS,...
Next Animation Studio
Moon Had ‘Magnetic Field That Protected Earth’
Scientists say they’re finding clues that support a theory that the early moon and Earth’s magnetospheres combined
NASA
NASA Spacecraft Discovers New Magnetic Process in Turbulent Space
Though close to home, the space immediately around Earth is full of hidden secrets and invisible processes. In a new discovery reported in the journal Nature, scientists working with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft — MMS —...
Next Animation Studio
Earth’s core cooling faster than scientists thought
When Earth’s spinning outer core cools and becomes solid, Earth will die like Mars died.
Next Animation Studio
Sun erupting, shooting out massive, dangerous solar flares
If any of these energy bombs hit Earth, humanity’s satellites, internet and electrical systems will fry and burn out.
Astrum
Our Solar System's Planets: Uranus
Almost everything you could want to know about the 7th planet from the Sun, Uranus.
NASA
NASA | Studying the Solar Wind on Mars
Robert Lin, the late director of the Space Sciences Laboratory, discusses how NASA's MAVEN spacecraft will study the interaction of the Martian atmosphere with the solar wind. MAVEN's findings will reveal how Mars lost its early...
Visual Learning Systems
Magnets and Electromagnetism: Earth as a Magnet
Upon viewing the Magnets and Electromagnets video series, students will be able to do the following: Define a magnet as a material that attracts iron and materials containing iron. Explain that magnets have a north pole and a south pole...
Next Animation Studio
Scientists shocked by size of Mars’ liquid core
NASA’s InSight mission marks the first time humans have managed to directly map the internal layering of a planet other than Earth.
Visual Learning Systems
The Atmosphere: the Magnetosphere
Students will learn about the different layers of the atmosphere. The changes in the atmosphere are explained using examples of contemporary environmental conditions brought about by human behavior. The oxygen cycle and the carbon cycle...
Getty Images
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights and starry sky, Karasjok, Norway, February 2008
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights and starry sky, Karasjok, Norway, February 2008
Getty Images
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights behind cloud, Karasjok, Norway, February 2008
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights behind cloud, Karasjok, Norway, February 2008
Getty Images
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights, Karasjok, Norway, impressive display, February 2008
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights, Karasjok, Norway, impressive display, February 2008
Getty Images
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights and starry sky, Karasjok, Norway, February 2008
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights and starry sky, Karasjok, Norway, February 2008
Getty Images
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights, Karasjok, Norway, impressive display, February 2008
Aurora borealis, Northern Lights, Karasjok, Norway, impressive display, February 2008