NASA Selects Magnetospheric Multiscale Instrument Suite Team

TERRADAILY

MMS will determine the small-scale basic plasma processes which transport, accelerate and energize plasmas in thin boundary and current layers � and which control the structure and dynamics of the Earth's magnetosphere. MMS will for the first time measure the 3D structure and dynamics of the key magnetospheric boundary regions, from the subsolar magnetopause to the distant tail. And MMS will pave the way for future Constellation-type missions.

San Antonio TX (SPX) May 04, 2005
NASA has selected the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) Instrument Suite team led by Dr. James L. Burch of Southwest Research Institute (SRI), San Antonio, to work with the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) MMS Project in mission formulation.

The proposed cost of the instrument suite for MMS mission formulation was $140 million.

The MMS mission is scheduled for launch in 2013. The mission will employ four identically instrumented spacecraft to make coordinated high-resolution observations of fundamental plasma physical processes in the Earth's magnetosphere, the region in space closest to the planet.

"MMS results will directly contribute to understanding the sun and its effects on Earth, the solar system, and the space environment human explorers will experience," said NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator of the Science Mission Directorate Ghassem Asrar.

"Because the Earth's magnetosphere is the only accessible laboratory we have in which to study this fundamental astrophysical process, what we learn from MMS will also have broad application to our studies of the universe," he said.

NASA received two proposals in response to the MMS Announcement of Opportunity. They were evaluated on scientific and technical merit and feasibility.

Both proposing teams were selected to conduct a six-month implementation-feasibility study focusing on cost, management, technical plans, educational outreach and small business involvement.

Based on results of these studies, NASA selected the SRI team to continue instrument suite definition in support of mission formulation activities leading to an initial confirmation review for MMS early in 2006.

TERRADAILY

Alaskan High Schoolers Help NASA Record, Share 'Earth Music'

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 28, 2005
In the tiny town of North Pole, Alaska, the sun currently creeps into view for just three or four hours a day. Temperatures typically crash in February to minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. And bears aren't uncommon in these parts - mother grizzlies have on occasion sheltered their cubs in the woods near the local high school.

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