The magnetic field associated with these particles helps protect the Earth from cosmic rays by deflecting them from the planet.

ECONOMIST: Climate change: Bubbling up | The

Another possibility would be to figure out how to generate a magnetic field around the spacecraft that mimics the one that protects Earth from the worst cosmic radiation.

CNN: SHARE THIS

The research could help test simulations of how the outer, fluid core generates the Earth's magnetic field, which shields our planet and the teeming life on it from harmful cosmic rays.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Earth's core runs ahead of crust