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NASA makes first successful detection of Earth’s ambipolar electric field
- NASA's Endurance mission successfully detected Earth's ambipolar electric field after suspicions over half a century.
- The ambipolar electric field, a weak but significant force, aids charged particles in escaping Earth's upper atmosphere near the poles.
- The field was measured for the first time by NASA's Endurance mission through a rocket launched near the North Pole.
- The field acts like an invisible tug-of-war, helping keep charged particles together and lifting them into space.
- Endurance's data showed a tiny electric potential drop of 0.55 volts across a large region above Earth.
- The electric field lifts particles without heating them, allowing ions to escape Earth's atmosphere at supersonic speeds.
- Endurance's mission used a custom photoelectron spectrometer and other instruments to confirm the ambipolar field's strength.
- The field extends Earth's atmosphere, aiding particles in the polar wind to reach escape speeds and leave the atmosphere.
- The measurement of the ambipolar electric field validates long-standing theories and provides insight into planetary atmospheres and potential for life.
- Understanding the ambipolar field's role can help scientists comprehend how Earth's atmosphere evolves and how material is lost into space.
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