LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Two NASA spacecraft have been given new marching orders, switching their focus from the Earth to the moon, the space agency says.
The twin unmanned probes were re-tasked this week to begin studying how the solar wind from the sun electrifies, alters and erodes the moon's surface, SPACE.com reported Thursday.
The two spacecraft have been "recycled" from an earlier multi-probe mission that studied the interactions between Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind.
NASA first launched the two spacecraft, along with three others, in 2007.
After completion of the primary mission in 2008, researchers proposed the two outermost spacecraft use their extra fuel to propel themselves into lunar orbits -- making it the first two-satellite mission to the moon.
NASA calls the new mission Artemis, short for Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun.
"Artemis will provide a unique two-point view of the moon's under-explored space environment," Artemis's principal investigator, Vassilis Angelopoulos of UCLA, said in a statement. "These two spacecraft are headed for an incredible new adventure."
