WVU researchers leading the way in NASA's TRACER mission
TRACER has been a work in progress since 2017, but on July 23 at 2:13 p.m., Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, right alongside the thrill of WVU physics and astronomy professor, Dr. Katy Goodrich and postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Skylar Shaver.
The key mission behind TRACER's launch is to study the connection between the Sun and Earth, but specifically the electrically conductive particles flying off the Sun that interact with the global magnetic field and enter the Earth's system near the poles—better known as what leads to the aurora borealis.
Data for the mission is being collected by the launch of the two satellites that went into solar orbit on Wednesday.
The mission requires all hands on deck, utilizing research from multiple R1 institutions nationwide, but WVU's team of researchers on the mission are science operation leads.
West Virginia's brightest attend Governor's Honor Academy at WVU
In an interview with 12 News, Dr. Goodrich and Dr. Shaver explained their role in the mission.
'Getting all this data back, we have to go through so many different steps, and sometimes we need someone to help us kind of transition through that to make sure that what we get is digestable, the data that we get is calibrated correctly, the data that we get is packaged correctly and distributed and explained correctly to, not just the scientific community but to the public because this is a public mission and this is for the public. Everyone should have access to this knowledge that we have,' Dr. Goodrich said.
'Our job here is to really take those lines and squigglys that are the data and make it accessible and help people see the bigger picture of what tracer science is all about,' Dr. Shaver said.
The satellites will orbit and gather data for the next year and, according to Dr. Goodrich, the science operation leads are responsible for providing information to the public every six months.
And though there is no set website to keep up with that data just yet, you can find more information on the project through NASA's TRACERS website.
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