The three-satellite Swarm Project launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) Friday will enlighten scientists on the deteriorating magnetosphere that covers the Earth and allows life to thrive in it.
At 7:02 am EST Friday, the three satellites on board a rocket were blasted off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. After 91 minutes, the Swarm reached its expected orbit which is at 490 km or 304 miles high.
Swarm is expected to gather data during its four-year course. Scientists are hoping to find answers on the magnetic field covering Earth and protecting it from the sun’s lethal radiation rays.
The project’s major goal is to distinguish this magnetic field from the planet’s geomagnetic field. The satellite constellation has sophisticated monitors which are sensitive to magnetic and electric fields which will allow scientists to gather data on the uppermost magnetosphere and survey its changing patterns.
According to the Swarm advisory chair Eigil Friis-Christensen, “The satellite constellation will allow us to simultaneously observe the day and night sides of the Earth at any time. We can thus distinguish between signals stemming from things that happen on the Sun from signals generated in the Earth’s core, mantle and crust.”
The magnetic poles in the north and south always switch with each other every 250,000 years. When this happens, the hand of the compass would point to south instead to north. And the deteriorating magnetic field covering Earth is a sign that it will flip again after the next 500 years.
This event’s effects to the life as we know it cannot be defined clearly but will surely be devastating. Satellites which are very critical to communications would cease to work and there would be no shield to cover us from solar radiation
"Swarm is an essential mission, not only for Europe but also for the world. We cannot live on planet Earth without this (magnetic) shield," said ," Jean-Jacques Dordain, who is currently ESA’s Director General.
