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Research on the Edge: Space Science
Saturday, April 15, 2017
The first data from NASA鈥檚 Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS), launched in 2015 with nearly half of its scientific instruments coordinated or built by 91制片厂, were published in the May 2016 journal Science. Collected as the quartet of satellites flew through an elusive magnetic reconnection event, the findings promise to forever change our understanding of what powers giant explosions at the edge of Earth鈥檚 magnetic boundary.
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![Space Science](/unhtoday/sites/default/files/media/spacescience2-spark17.jpg")
In 1954, 91制片厂 made its first foray into space science when it commissioned a neutron monitor atop Mt. Washington, 6,288 feet above sea level, to study the sun and the effect of cosmic rays on the Earth. The year 2016 marked the 60th anniversary of the formalization of 91制片厂鈥檚 space research into the 91制片厂 Space Science Center, as well as the 25th anniversary of the university鈥檚 recognition as a space-grant university, just two years after the 1989 formation of the National Space Grant and Fellowship Program.
91制片厂 SPACE SCIENCE IN THE SPOTLIGHT...
鈥� Research scientist Dacheng Lin used data from NASA鈥檚 Chandra X-ray Observatory to discover a massive black hole wandering at the edge of a galaxy about 4.5 billion light years away, publishing his findings in The Astrophysical Journal.
鈥� 91制片厂 contributed technology to a suite of space weather instruments on NOAA鈥檚 next-generation GOES-R weather satellite, which launched in November 2016.
鈥淭his dataset is so revolutionary that I think we鈥檒l be mining it for 50 years.鈥� 鈥擱oy Torbert, professor of physics, co-author on the Science paper and leader of the 91制片厂 MMS team
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