VOA科学技术2024--NASA Rocket Confirms Existence of Earth's Hidden Electric Field

The American space agency NASA says it has confirmed the long-suspected existence of an electric field that surrounds Earth.

A rocket named Endurance gathered the information that led to the confirmation¹. Endurance launched from Norway on May 11, 2022. The launch site was the closest possible to the North Pole.

Endurance reached a top altitude of 768 kilometers. The rocket captured data on the electric field during its 19-minute flight before splashing down in the sea, off the coast of Greenland.

NASA says that since the 1960s, spacecraft flying over Earth's poles have recorded collections of particles flowing from the planet's atmosphere into space. But the cause of these outflows long remained a mystery. Scientists lacked the technology and tools to confirm an electric field and further explore it.

But the development in recent years of new observation methods and instruments led NASA to plan the Endurance mission. So the agency built the rocket and a new data instrument and planned the launch.

NASA scientist Glyn Collinson, an expert in space instrument design, led the Endurance mission.

Collinson explains in a video that scientists believe the electric field they searched for was one of three energy fields affecting Earth. The others are gravitational and magnetic. Scientists are calling the third energy field the "ambipolar electric field."

A NASA statement says scientists believe the ambipolar field is an influential² driver of the "polar wind." They described the wind as "a steady outflow of charged particles into space that occurs above Earth's poles." Scientists believe the ambipolar electric field counteracts⁴ some of the effects of gravity.

This electric field lifts the charged particles in Earth's upper atmosphere "to greater heights than they would otherwise reach," NASA said. Scientists had theorized this electric field began at around 250 kilometers high. This is where atoms in our atmosphere break apart into negatively charged electrons and positively⁵ charged ions. This activity helps form a part of Earth's atmosphere known as the ionosphere.

NASA noted⁶ the Endurance mission permitted researchers to successfully identify and measure "a planet-wide electric field thought to be as fundamental to Earth as its gravity and magnetic fields." A study describing the team's results recently appeared in the publication Nature.

NASA said studying the ambipolar electric field is important because it "may have shaped our planet's evolution in ways yet to be explored." In addition, the agency said further study of this field can help scientists better understand other planets and possibly find ones with conditions that may support life.

Leader Collinson said that, during the mission, the instrument on the rocket was able to measure an electrical voltage of 0.55 volts⁷. He said this level is very low, about the same voltage used to power a watch battery. But, he noted that 0.55 volts was "just the right amount" to explain the outflows of particles driving the polar wind.

Collinson said he finds the results "incredibly important" because the newly confirmed electric field can counter the effects of gravity and "basically lifts the skies up." He described the field as a kind of "conveyor belt that's lifting this atmosphere up into space."

Alex Glocer is a project scientist for the Endurance mission and was a co-writer of the study. He said he agrees with those findings. "That's more than enough to counter gravity - in fact, it's enough to launch them upwards⁸ into space at supersonic speeds," Glocer said. Supersonic describes speeds that are greater than the speed of sound.

The team said the study results suggest the ambipolar electric field also greatly increases the density⁹ of the ionosphere at higher atmospheric¹⁰ positions.

Collinson said, "Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar field. Now that we've finally measured it, we can begin learning how it's shaped our planet as well as others over time."

Words in This Story

pole - n. either part of an axis¹¹ of a sphere and especially of Earth's axis

counteract³ - v. the reduce a bad effect of something else

fundamental - adj. relating to the most important or main part of something

evolution - n. a gradual process of change and development

battery - n. an object that provides electricity for things such as radios, toys, cars, etc.

conveyor belt - n. a continuous moving piece of rubber or metal that is used to transport objects from one place to another

 

•  

1 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

4 counteracts   

对抗，抵消( counteract的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The drug counteracts the effects of the poison. 这种药可抵消毒物的作用。
• Offset Something that balances, counteracts, or compensates the effects of another thing. 弥补用来平衡、抵消或偿还另一财物的东西。

5 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 volts   

n.（电压单位）伏特( volt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The floating potential, Vf is usually only a few volts below ground. 浮置电势Vf通常只低于接地电位几伏。 来自辞典例句
• If gamma particles are present, potential differences of several thousand volts can be generated. 如果存在γ粒子，可能产生几千伏的电位差。 来自辞典例句

8 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

9 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

10 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

11 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。