NASA Experiment to Track Space ‘Doughnut’ Encircling Earth

Narration: Alex Glocer

Transcript:

Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts look down at Earth every day.

A new NASA instrument, called STORIE, will reverse that view.

Installed on the exterior of the space station, STORIE will look out at space to observe a swarm of charged particles that influence how explosions from the Sun impact our planet.

This donut-shaped region circling Earth is known as the ring current.

When a solar blast hits our planet, it can disrupt satellites in space and power systems on the ground. But whether it has these effects, or not, depends on how Earth’s ring current responds.

For example, the ring current may surge, gathering new particles, intensifying the solar storm’s effects.

Whether the particles fall like rain or surge like a waterfall is a question STORIE is trying to answer.

STORIE will monitor the particles with outstanding detail, which will help us understand how the ring current develops and evolves during solar storms, and ultimately, how they will impact Earth.

While previous missions studied this space “doughnut” from the top down, STORIE’s position outside the orbiting laboratory will allow it to look at the ring current from inside out.

This new perspective on solar storms can help us better protect our society from space weather.