WHO'S AFRAID OF KILLER ELECTRONS? "Killer electrons" from the Van Allen Belts are raining down on Earth's atmosphere. Last Saturday, students from UCLA launched a pair of satellites they built themselves to monitor this space weather threat. The two healthy cubesats are now orbiting Earth and beaming data to the ground, which ham radio operators around the world can easily receive. Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com to hear the transmissions and learn more.
Above: Cubesats ELFIN-A and ELFIN-B are in a polar orbit around Earth where they can monitor high-energy particles raining down from the Van Allen Belts. [more]
