NASA’s STORIE Mission to Tell Tale of Earth’s Ring Current

Earth’s magnetic field is like a powerful trap. It lures electrically charged particles in space, near our planet, and snares them in an invisible, doughnut-shaped pen around Earth known as the ring current. This captive swarm of charged particles plays an important role in how Earth reacts to changing conditions in space, called space weather , which can affect the technology we rely on, such as satellites and power grids. Yet there is still a lot we do not know about the ring current. …