NASA's twin TRACERS satellites launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The satellites will study how to protect Earth from the space weather surrounding the planet. CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood has more.

California

NASA has successfully launched its twin TRACERS satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, following a brief delay due to airspace concerns. The satellites are designed to study the interaction between the solar wind—a stream of charged particles from the sun—and Earth's magnetic field, which shields the planet from intense solar radiation.

The TRACERS mission aims to provide detailed insights into how space weather events, such as solar storms, develop and impact Earth. These storms can disrupt electrical grids and GPS navigation systems, making the research crucial for protecting modern infrastructure. The data collected will help scientists better understand and potentially mitigate the effects of severe space weather.

NASA launches twin TRACERS satellites to study space weather

3, 2, 1, ignition, and liftoff. Go SpaceX, go Tracers. Go SpaceX, go Tracers. You're looking at today's launch of NASA's twin Tracers satellites from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Now, these satellites will study how to protect Earth from the space weather surrounding planet Earth. The launch was delayed for 24 hours due to airspace concerns. CBS News space consultant, Bill Harwood, joins us now from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. So Bill, always good to have you. Very cool stuff to see those things go up into space. But tell us about why these Tracers are so important and what they'll be studying when it comes to space weather. Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. You know, the Earth's magnetic field is constantly interacting. It's getting battered by the solar wind. That's this supersonic stream of electrically charged particles that are emitted in all directions from the sun. And the Earth's magnetic field really protects us on the surface from some of that intense radiation. You can see some aspects of that when you look at the Northern and Southern Lights, for example. That's, you know, solar wind particles spiraling along magnetic field lines to the poles of the Earth. What Tracers wants to study is the interaction, very precisely, the interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field. They want to see if they can learn any more about how storms develop in space weather. In other words, while we're normally fully protected, sometimes these big solar storms can blast particles down into the planet, disrupt electrical grids, mess up GPS navigation signals, things like that. A lot of stuff to take in, and it would be nice if they could stop the really, really strong bad storms from coming, but we know that's not the case. Bill Hartwood, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

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