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NASA has refocused its Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) launch date to no earlier than 2025 to provide more time for the mission crew to prepare. This mission is about a pair of satellite studying about how the solar wind, interacts with and enters Earth’s magnetosphere, the region around Earth dominated by our planet’s magnetic field. Understanding and eventually forecasting how energy from our Sun enters our planet and may affect assets depending on space and the earth depends on research into this interaction.

Mission Objectives

According to NASA, the TRACERS spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The twin spacecraft will travel around 341 miles above the planet through polar cusps, a short area of the earth’s magnetic field where solar wind is concentrated and funneled into our atmosphere.

In order to investigate the location and frequency of a phenomena known as magnetic reconnection near the outer borders of Earth’s magnetic field, the TRACERS mission will fly across the northern polar cusp many times each day.

The explosive energy transfer where two magnetic fields meet, particularly in the magnetopause region where the solar wind meets Earth’s magnetosphere is termed as magnetic reconnection . This event can cause solar wind particles to enter the atmosphere at high speeds, igniting the northern and southern lights but also creating hazardous conditions for astronauts and satellites, damaging ground infrastructure, communication signals, and aviation.

Mission oversight

David Miles is leading this TRACERS mission at the University of Iowa and it is managed by the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington oversees the project through the Heliophysics Explorers Program Office at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. As part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract, the launch service is being provided by NASA’s Launch Services Program, which is headquartered at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in collaboration with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

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SpaceX Successfully Launches 23 Starlink Satellites on Brand-New Falcon 9 Rocket

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SpaceX Successfully Launches 23 Starlink Satellites on Brand-New Falcon 9 Rocket

SpaceX marked its 60th Falcon 9 flight of 2025 by successfully launching a brand-new Falcon 9 booster rocket on the 20th of May. This rocket carries 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. Among those, 13 feature Direct to Cell capabilities. Originally, it was targeting 11:58 p.m. EDT on May 19 (0358 UTC on May 20) for the launch, but that try was aborted just before liftoff, for reasons that the company did not immediately explain. It was finally launched on Tuesday (May 20) at 11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 GMT on May 21) from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

About the launch

According to SpaceX’s mission overview, this was the first-ever launch for this particular Falcon 9’s (booster B1095) first stage. While most recent SpaceX missions have reused Falcon 9 boosters , a signature part of the company’s cost-saving and sustainability strategy ,Tuesday’s flight featured a rare first-stage debut.

The rocket successfully completed its initial mission, separating from the upper stage around two and a half minutes after liftoff. About eight minutes later, the booster made a precise landing on the SpaceX drone ship “Just Read the Instructions,” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. This smooth recovery sets the stage for future reusability of the rocket.

Technical Advancement

Of the 23 satellites onboard, 13 were outfitted with direct-to-cell technology — a feature designed to enable satellite connectivity directly to mobile phones, especially in areas lacking terrestrial infrastructure. After reaching space, the rocket’s second stage performed a short engine burn to circularize the orbit before deploying the satellites about 65 minutes after launch.

Starlink is the largest satellite megaconstellation ever constructed, consisting of about 7,500 operational satellites at the moment. And that number is growing all the time, as Tuesday’s action shows.

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Polaris Wasn’t Always the North Star: How Earth’s Wobble Shifts the Celestial Pole

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Polaris Wasn’t Always the North Star: How Earth’s Wobble Shifts the Celestial Pole

Polaris has been the constant guide for explorers and navigators in the northern hemisphere for thousands of years, hence its other name, the famous North Star. It is significant where it is located near the north rotational axis of Earth, and the whole sky appears to spin about it. But that’s not always been the case, and it won’t always be the case. The planet’s sluggish axial wobble, called precession, makes the pole trace a circle about every 26,000 years, bringing different stars into view over the ages.

How Earth’s 26,000-Year Axial Precession Shifts the North Star Over Time

As per NASA, gravitational forces from the sun and moon affect the rotation of Earth; these produce a bulge at the equator and axial precession. Every 26,000 years or so, this wobble makes a complete circle, and it makes the celestial pole move on a cycle, pointing to stars in sequence over time. Thuban, in the star constellation Draco, was the closest visible in the sky to the celestial pole some 4,700 years ago. The stars, such as Kochab and Pherkad, were the nearest to the pole about 3,000 years ago. Polaris now has the title, but not for very long.

The axis of the Earth will eventually change again, bringing new stars into prominence. In about 2,200 years, Errai in the constellation Cepheus will become the North Star. Alderamin, likewise in Cepheus, will have its turn some 5,000 years from now. Deneb, who will approach the pole once more about 9,800 CE, and Vega, a former pole star, returning in roughly 12,000 years, complete this cycle.
Many of these stars fit identifiable constellations, including Cepheus, Draco, and Ursa Minor. Modern stargazing apps incorporating augmented reality for nighttime sky navigation allow amateur astronomers to trace their positions.

As Polaris continues to shine overhead today, its reign is only temporary. Earth’s steady 26,000-year precessional cycle guarantees that other stars will eventually take its place, proving that even in the cosmos, change is constant.

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Scientists Warn of Inadequate Solar Storm Forecasting: What You Need to Know

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Scientists Warn of Inadequate Solar Storm Forecasting: What You Need to Know

Imagine being told a storm is approaching, but you won’t know how dangerous it truly is until minutes before impact. That’s the reality scientists face with solar storms. Although scientists have improved our ability to monitor coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun and project their arrival at Earth, the most important consideration — the orientation of the storm’s magnetic field — remains unknown until the very last minute. This direction, referred to as the Bz component, decides whether the CME will pass by with little influence or cause disturbances to satellites, electricity grids, and GPS systems.

Lack of Early Bz Data Leaves Earth Vulnerable to Solar Storms, Scientists Urge Wider Sun Coverage

As per a report on Space.com, solar physicist Valentín Martínez Pillet emphasised that knowing the Bz value earlier could dramatically improve our ability to prepare. Currently, spacecraft like NASA’s ACE and DSCOVR detect Bz only when the CME reaches Lagrange Point 1 (L1), giving us just 15 to 60 minutes’ warning. Martínez Pillet predicts it could take 50 years to achieve the forecasting precision we have for Earth’s weather unless we expand our view of the Sun with new satellites placed at Lagrange points L4, L5, and L3.

Despite having the scientific models needed, Martínez Pillet argues we lack vital real-time data from different solar perspectives. Most observations currently come from a single vantage point — L1, which limits our predictive ability. Missions like ESA’s upcoming Vigil, scheduled for launch in 2031 to L5, aim to fill this gap by detecting the CME’s shape and magnetic orientation from the side, potentially giving up to a week’s notice.

But decades may be too long to wait. History reminds us of the danger: the 1859 Carrington Event caused telegraph failures, and a near miss in 2012 could have caused trillions in damage if it had struck Earth. In a 2013 paper, Dan Baker of LASP warned that a direct hit would have left the modern world technologically crippled.

Today, tools like the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and DSCOVR offer continuous solar monitoring, but their limitations emphasise the need to provide broader coverage. “The Sun isn’t changing,” Martínez Pillet said. “It’s our dependence on technology that’s made us more vulnerable.” Until we build the infrastructure to see solar storms before they hit, we may remain dangerously exposed.

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