As if out of a science fiction movie, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch satellites to diagnose why the Earth's magnetic field is apparently growing weak because, without it, human life would not be possible, Reuters reported.
The satellite launch was part of the ESA's Swarm project and they have already taken off from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Swarm will collect data on the mysterious magnetic field that shields the Earth from what would be deadly solar rays.
Scientists currently do not have a completely clear understanding of the field, but believe it is getting weaker. Some experts fear the magnetosphere could be all but gone within the next 500 years.
"Swarm is an essential mission, not only for Europe but also for the world," ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain told Reuters after the launch. "We cannot live on planet Earth without this (magnetic) shield."
Some have speculated the Earth might be ready for a polar swap, which would literally turn North into South and vice versa, BBC News reported. However, this is a normal geological occurrence and has not happened in more than 780,000 years.
"You could say we're overdue," said Prof Eigil Friis-Christensen, lead proposer on the mission and a former director of Denmark's National Space Institute. "We talk about the weakening of the global field but in some local areas, such as in the South Atlantic, the field has gone down ten percent in just the last 20 years. But we do not know whether we will go into a reversal or whether the global field will recover."
The Swarm mission is primarily meant to gather information that will help scientists understand the Earth's magnetosphere since it remains mostly mysterious. It is mostly generated by convection of molten iron in the Earth's liquid core, however, various other components exist and those are still unknown.
