July 1 -- A U.S. space agency mission under evaluation might discover the shape of space that has been distorted by a spinning black hole's crushing gravity.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism, or GEMS, mission would use new technology that can explore the structure and effects of the formidable magnetic field around magnetars -- dead stars with magnetic fields trillions of times stronger than Earth's.

"Current missions either don't have the resolution to do this, or … simply can't do this because magnetic fields are invisible," NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, which proposed the mission, said in a statement.

The principal investigator of the project, Jean Swank, said the extreme environments around black holes, magnetars and the shocks from exploding stars called supernovae all produce X-rays.

"GEMS will be the first mission designed just to measure the polarization of these X-rays, which will enable us to explore these exotic places in an unprecedented way," said Swank.

Goddard's GEMS proposal was among six selected for detailed concept study. NASA will select two for development in the spring of 2009. One selected mission will launch in 2012, with the other in 2015. 
 
 

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