NASA MMS Breaks Guinness World Record

NASA's GPS prowess is unprecedented, and as proof, it is now part of record books. Their Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission broke the Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fix for GPS signal.

According to Space.com, NASA's four MMS satellites set the new space record with FPS navigation at an amazing altitude of 43,500 miles above the Earth's surface. The navigation system that pinpoints locations by checking with satellites in orbit were said to stay in a tight flying formation as they survey the magnetic field on Earth.

However, this is not the first time that the MMS broke a record: it is also the closest flying formation between several spacecraft, with merely 4.5 miles separating the four satellites. They are also the fastest-travelling craft to use a GPS receiver: the mission, at its closest point to Earth, reached 22,000 mph along the orbit.

Science Daily noted however, that there is more to the MMS than breaking records. When in use, it conducts ground-breaking science, giving scientists new insight to our Earth's magnetosphere. This is also the reason that the mission uses four individual satellites that fly in a pyramid formation: they map magnetic recognition as the Sun and Earth's magnetic fields interact. This precision allows the satellites to maintain their tight formation and obtain the high-resolution 3D observations. Studying these connections help scientists understand different phenomena, including sun flares and Earth's auroras, to areas surrounding black holes.

The satellites are said to go to a higher orbit to take a look at a different magnetosphere in the spring, thus the second phase of their mission. In this stage, the satellites are expected to double the GPS record that they already set as they explore another faction of the Earth.

With GPS system working at such high altitude, you'd have to wonder when scientists will go the other way to make tracking possible deep into the Earth instead.