A NASA research rocket, launched from Andøya Space’s launch facility at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, has confirmed the existence of a new and global electric field.
Satellites in polar orbits have long noticed that the atmosphere is leaking particles from the atmosphere in the polar regions out to space. This leak was in 1968 coined the name the «polar wind».
– Scientists have suspected that a new and unknown electric field is behind the leak, says Kolbjørn Blix, head of Andøya Space Sub-Orbital. – It was believed that one of the reasons this field hadn’t been measured before was that is was very, very weak, weaker than what was technically possible to measure at the time.
In 2016, a group of scientists, lead by Glyn Collinson at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Catholic University of America, invented a new instrument which would, in theory, capable of measuring the unknown field.
– To give the new instrument the chance to do its job, it was decided to launch it onboard a sub-orbital research rocket from Ny-Ålesund, says Blix.
The northern location of Andøya Space’s launch facility at Svalbard makes it the only launch facility in the world where you can launch directly into the «polar wind».
On May 11th, 2022, at 03:31 local time, the american research rocket Endurance lifted off from launch pad S2 at Svalbard, and flew up 768,03 kilometers altitude, through the «polar wind» while performing its measurements.
– Modern research rockets gathers a fantastic amount of data, says Blix. – And it has taken a couple of years to go through everything, but Endurance did its job, and has confirmed that there is a ambipolar electric field on earth which is regarded to be as fundamental as the magnetic field and gravity.
– To illustrate how weak this field is; during its flight Endurance measured a tiny 0.55 volt difference in electric potential, says Blix. – But it was enough for the scientists to explain the «polar wind». As weak as this field is, it is still capable of launching hydrogen ions out to space at supersonic speeds.
– This is incredibly exciting, Blix says enthusiastically. – This has now opened up for new and interesting questions. How has this field helped form life on Earth, does it exist on other planets and so on. The findings from Endurance is now published by NASA, including in the scientific magazine Nature.
– We here at Andøya Space Sub-Orbital is of course very proud of having supported the Endurance project, says Blix.
– The EISCAT radar on Svalbard, supported by the Norwegian and British research councils, also contributed by performing simultaneous radar measurements which helped the scientists interpret the data from Endurance.
– This shows the importance of doing basic research. Scientists have studied the atmosphere for centuries and suddenly something new pops up which turns upside down on what you though you knew.
– The Endurance project and Andøya Space was given a prestigous NASA Group Achievement Award, says Blix. – Previous recipiants has been the James Webb Telescope and Parker Solar Probe.