Dozens of scientists from the University of Iowa traveled to Lompoc, California, to joyfully witness the successful rocket launch associated with TRACERS — the NASA-funded mission to study the mysterious, powerful interactions between the magnetic fields of the sun and Earth.

Wednesday, July 23 marked the reward of years of work for University of Iowa researchers as their twin satellites launched into space. The University held a watch party for its contributors and the public to see SpaceX launch the TRACERS satellites. Dozens of university students, professors, and researchers had a hand in building TRACERS, one of the largest research projects in university history.

The UI Department of Physics and Astronomy is inviting you to join us for a live viewing event celebrating the launch of NASA’s TRACERS mission. The live viewing event has been postponed Wednesday July 23 in Lecture Room One, Van Allen Hall, from 12 to 3 p.m.

NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) spacecraft are targeting launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a launch window that opens at 2:13 p.m. EDT (11:13 a.m. PDT) on Tuesday, July 22. The TRACERS mission and three NASA small satellites will launch from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

High above us, particles from the Sun hurtle toward Earth, colliding with the upper atmosphere and creating powerful explosions in a murky process called magnetic reconnection. A single magnetic reconnection event can release as much energy as the entire United States uses in a day. NASA’s new TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission will study magnetic reconnection, answering key questions about how it shapes the impacts of the Sun and space weather on our daily lives.

A University of Iowa engineering student built a replica of the TRACERS satellite that will study the magnetic fields of the sun and Earth.

The journal Space Science Reviews is publishing a collection of articles about the TRACERS mission. This collection presents the science objectives of the mission, descriptions of the design and calibration of the plasma instruments, and other important aspects of the mission.

NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) now is targeting no earlier than summer 2025 for launch in order to give the mission spacecraft team additional time to prepare.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy presented Demos Unleashed 2025 on March 14 at Van Allen Hall. The show featured the science of the TRACERS Mission including making plasmas, aurora, magnetic detection, particle detection, and the science of rockets.

University of Iowa space physicist Craig Kletzing’s life was cut short before he could complete his most ambitious NASA mission. The professor’s colleagues stepped in to bring TRACERS to the launch pad.