Energetic ions and electrons within the Earth's radiation belts pose a hazard to both astronauts and spacecraft. NASA will launch two spacecraft, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), to quantify the source, loss, and transport processes that generate the radiation belts and cause them to decay. Observations from the two spacecraft will enable the development of empirical and physics-based models for the radiation belts. The empirical models will be used by engineers to design radiation-hardened spacecraft, while the physics-based models will be used by forecasters to predict geomagnetic storms and alert both astronauts and spacecraft operators to potential hazards.
The RBSP spacecraft will carry five scientific instruments. IWF will participate in EMFISIS (Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science).
The RBSP spacecraft will be launched in 2012.
Further information on RBSP is found at the John Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) and on the NASA page.
|
