Posted on 03/16/2015 10:47:56 AM PDT by LibWhacker
In addition to learning more about the magnetic field of the Earth, and the ubiquitous but hard to understand “magnetic reconnection,” NASA’s new MMS mission is also looking for ways to harness the power of magnetism, and produce clean energy.
After years of intensive planning, with countless days of engineering works, data analysis, and more, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday successfully launched the MMS, short for the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft.
It’s no secret that NASA is obsessed with the Earth’s magnetic field. In fact, the agency already made several videos in YouTube discussing the Earth’s invisible protective barrier against the Sun’s harmful solar wind. But the main focus of the new MMS mission is not on the protective nature of the field. NASA scientists want to study the phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection.
This phenomenon is ubiquitous in the universe, even on the surface of the Earth, whenever there is magnetic field — but the Earth’s magnetosphere offers a bigger picture. It is like an oversized piece of sample that scientists can study.
“In the cores of galaxies, magnetic reconnection sparks explosions billions of light years away,” says NASA. “On the sun, it causes solar flares as powerful as million atomic bombs.”
The problem is, says NASA, researchers can’t explain magnetic reconnection. What we know so far is magnetic energy is produced after the “snap” — so is it possible to harness this power? Or make magnetic field a good source of clean energy?
[[[If you're unfamiliar with magnetic reconnection, go to the source to watch a cool video about that and the MMS mission, or just CLICK HERE to watch it on YouTube.]]]
The MMS will now investigate the Earth’s magnetic field reconnection using four hockey puck-like shaped spacecrafts. Each spacecraft is equipped with electromagnetic sensors that can extend to up to 60 meters long. The four satellites will fly within the magnetosphere in formation as close as 10 kilometers apart.
The interesting part of the project is the use of GPS satellites flying below these spacecrafts, says NASA. From a station on Earth, scientists will guide these spacecrafts in orbit, and maintain formation until the satellites reach and fly through the so-called reconnection zone.
Any new findings from this mission could lead to production of clean energy, the space agency said.
Based on several research papers, magnetism is an efficient source of green energy, but the problem is, scientists still don’t know how to harness this power. It is like finding the solar cell, or the wind turbine that could work with magnetic fields, possibly including magnetic reconnection.
“The depth and detail of our knowledge is going to grow by leaps and bounds, in ways that no one can yet predict,” says NASA’s Jeff Newmark, interim director of Heliophysics Division in Washington.
If it weren’t for the planet’s magnetic field, the Sun could easily strip away the ozone layer, and will all die. But it looks like this energy offers something more than just protecting humans and other living creatures here on Earth. Ξ
Or lead to the creation of a new weapon to scare the crap out of our enemies? One can hope.
How about a Green Weapon? May it could shoot edamame?
Oh, I can only hope and pray that this is one instance where our government is using “Green Energy” nonsense as a cover for some deadly new super-weapon.
It better not affect pollinating bees and my tomatoes.
Guarantee you one of these days we screw up and kill the planet.
LOL, green energy. If extracting energy from the field lowers or diminishes earth’s magnetic field it could have a worse environmental effect than every single coal plant ever built running all at once, full bore for a million years X 10.....
My tagline can take you (it's free) to the book "Darwin's Ghost," where on page 252 we have ...
The key is in the Earth's magnetic field. Every few hundred thousand years, what was the North Pole becomes the South until the poles reverse once more in their endless dance. The switch is recorded in the rocks. Great stripes of magnetic reversal across the bottom of the ocean mark their movements. As band after band of older material is taken away, the continents reveal their ancient positions. Before about hundred and eighty million years ago, no ocean floor is left and the information must come from matched geological sequences in different places.
The book also tells us that our Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
In brightest day, in darkest night
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!
No, the “smart boys” over at NASA still think they could extract “free energy” from Earth’s magnetic field. All that is necessary is to build a large enough field coil, then the energy comes out in such volume it would not even be necessary to meter its use, it would be so cheap and plentiful.
And it will work, just as soon as they locate the East Pole and the West Pole.
(Oh crap, do I HAVE to put in the < /sarcasm > tag?)
Now, that was funny.
The andromedia strain
The Tether Experiment part II ...
http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1108/19antimatter/
http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/09/space-based-antimatter-production-for.html
Or, use small scale magnetic reconnection to power a warp drive.
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