Interactions between Earth and the sun's magnetic fields cause "space weather" which can cause problems with our electrical infrastructure. The University of Iowa is leading NASA's TRACERS mission that is studying this occurrence. On Iowa Public Radio's River to River program, host Ben Kieffer speaks with David Miles, the principal investigator on the project.

In summer 2017, University of Iowa physicist Craig Kletzing learned NASA was giving him an initial $1.25 million to flesh out a proposal to study how solar winds interact with Earth’s magnetic fields — in hopes of better understanding space weather, including to what extent it might affect satellites and other aspects of everyday life. Seven years later — after securing an additional $115 million from NASA to pursue the project in full, navigating delays through the pandemic and losing its leader in Professor Kletzing’s unexpected passing — the groundbreaking mission is nearing launch.

In just over five months, the University of Iowa will be launching its TRACERS mission which currently stands as the largest grant ever awarded to the university.

The twin spacecraft of NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission were recently completed, in preparation for launch in 2025.

Voyager spacecraft paved the way for our understanding of our solar system, but they are now over 15 billion miles away from Earth. It takes light and radio signals about 23 hours to reach it one way, and it is still changing our understanding of the cosmos. The instruments still onboard and operational were built, and are still operated by, the University of Iowa's Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Thirteen Physics and Astronomy students presented posters at the Fall Undergraduate Research Festival (FURF) on Nov. 6 at the University Capitol Centre. The Office of Undergraduate Research hosts FURF, held in celebration and recognition of undergraduate researchers' contributions to research, scholarly, and creative work at the University of Iowa.

This story from the University of Iowa Graduate College tells how graduate students Connor Feltman (now a postdoctoral research fellow/scholar) and Allison Flores contribute to the TRACERS mission, which seeks to answer long-standing questions about space weather.