Nasa finishes spacecraft for TRACERS space weather mission

Nasa says it has completed building its twin spacecraft for its new space weather mission.

The TRACERS mission will look at how activity from the Sun, such as solar wind, interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.

It's hoped that TRACERS will help scientists better understand how the Sun influences our planet.

The launch date is currently set for early next year.

What is Nasa's TRACERS mission?

Earth’s magnetosphere protects the planet from harmful energy from deep space.

It also shields Earth from the constant flow of charged particles from the Sun, called the solar wind.

Sometimes called space weather, it's completely normal and isn't dangerous to people on Earth.

The effects of space weather can lead to beautiful displays, like the aurora borealis, but it can also cause disruption to electronic devices, including satellites orbiting our planet.

TRACERS - which stands for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites - is a pair of satellites that will study how solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere.

It will also look at magnetic reconnection, which is when a huge transfer of energy can happen when two magnetic fields meet.

TRACERS will work with other space missions to get a deeper understanding of this process so that experts can better prepare for impacts of solar activity on Earth.

Nasa says that as the satellites have been completed, they will now enter the testing phase.

The space agency added that it hoped to launch the TRACERS mission in April next year.