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Forces deep within Earth create a giant, invisible magnetic bubble that protects us from solar radiation.
By understanding Earth's magnetosphere better, and comparing it with magnetic fields on other planets,
scientists are getting closer to unlocking the mysteries of Earth's core, the history of our solar system, and perhaps even changes in our climate.
To do this, NASA flies advanced instruments, called magnetometers on spacecraft. You can think of these instruments as
a kind of an MRI for planets that lets scientists see what's previously unseen.
There are two types of magnetometers. One is the vector magnetometer and it's basically a compass that tells you
which direction the magnetic field is pointing. And the second is the scalar magnetometer,
and there they want to know how--just how big is the magnetic field and how is it changing with time.
Dr. Robert Slocum runs a small company near Dallas, Texas called Polatomic.
The company is working with NASA to create a Self-Calibrating Helium Magnetometer.
The application in past the NASA experiments in earth orbit has been to put three vector magnetometers so
they can look at the three directions like three compasses, and a scalar magnetometer to calibrate these instruments
because they're not accurate. They're sensitive, but they vary in their readings.
Polatomic combined all three vector instruments into a single unit which is able to look at the scalar field at the same time for calibration.
This ensures highly accurate vector readings.
Just in terms of innovation, I think the self-calibrating vector magnetometer solves problems that no one's ever solved before.
So, we call it a disruptive technology, just something nobody's been able to do before.
To accelerate technology development for NASA projects and missions, Polatomic has leveraged funding awarded through
NASA's Small Business Innovation Research or SBIR program, which is an element of the agency's Innovative Partnerships Program.
About twenty years ago, Polatomic started working with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop a Universal Helium Magnetometer
for Space that was ten times more sensitive than the best traditional, lamp pumped magnetometers.
The firm later worked with JPL on scalar magnetometer electronics for the enormously
successful Cassini mission to study Saturn and its moons.
In 2009, NASA selected Polatomic to build the Self-calibrating Vector Magnetometer for a fleet of Earth orbiting satellites
and high altitude aircraft used to advance the understanding of geomagnetism.
NASA's technical requirements are stringent, but they've put Polatomic on a path to deliver the most sensitive magnetometers ever.
This capability has led to additional partnerships between the firm and other organizations. For instance,
the U.S. Navy has plans to update their current fleet of sub hunting aircraft with Polatomic's AN/ASQ-233 magnetometer.
The Navy has used airborne magnetometers to find enemy subs as far back as World War II, but never with such pinpoint accuracy.
We have a Navy instrument that's 30 times more sensitive than anything the Navy's had before, so it flies in aircraft,
helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and not only can see the magnetism of the submarine but it can
see the heartbeat, the screws turning, and the machinery running inside the submarine.
The U.S. military is also looking and using the technology to help find buried sea mines,
underground facilities, hidden missiles even tanks cloaked by buildings or trees.
Seeing the unseen, with the aid of technology derived through Innovative Partnerships.
It's helping us understand our world better than ever before and keeping it a safer place for future generations.