IOWA CITY, Iowa — A pair of NASA spacecraft led by a University of Iowa researcher are set to launch into orbit before the end of July to study a mysterious process in space that could help scientists better predict potentially dangerous space weather.
The Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, better known as TRACERS, will ride aboard a SpaceX rocket launching from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. It’s set to launch no later than the end of July.
Once in orbit, the twin satellites will fly in formation, gathering data on magnetic reconnection…