Scaling New Heights: MMS Sets Record For The Highest Altitude Fix Of A GPS Signal

US Space Agency, NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) has scaled meteoric heights to enter the Guinness World Record for the second time, and this time, for the highest altitude fix of a GPS signal.

MMS, tasked with providing information on the Earth’s magnetosphere and unravelling the lesser known phenomenon called magnetic reconnection, set the record at 70,006.4 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, said NASA.

The mission uses four individual satellites that fly in a pyramid formation to map magnetic reconnection – a process that occurs as the sun and Earth’s magnetic fields meet. Accurate GPS tracking allows the satellites to maintain a tight formation and facilitate high resolution three-dimensional observations.

MMS set the first record when the four spacecraft flew in a pyramid formation at a distance of just four-and-a-half miles or seven kilometers apart — the closest flying separation ever achieved in any multispacecraft mission.

The MMS mission, which began with the launch of four identical satellites on March 12, 2015, is set to explore the magnetic reconnection process, which can link the sun’s magnetic field lines to Earth’s, funneling material and energy from the sun into Earth’s magnetic environment.