Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARTH OBSERVATION
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Team Assemble Flight Observatory
by Karen Fox for Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 03, 2013


Magnetospheric Multiscale mission integration and test team members, seen here in white clean-room suits, integrate the fourth and final instrument deck onto the spacecraft deck/thrust tube assembly, which houses the propulsion module, officially making it an observatory. This clean room was designed and built for MMS to house all four spacecraft at once: Two additional observatories appear in the background. Credit: NASA. For a larger version of this image please go here.

On May 20, 2013, the Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., reached an unprecedented milestone.

The team mated the instrument and spacecraft decks to form the fourth and final MMS observatory. This is the first time Goddard has simultaneously engineered this many observatories, or spacecraft, for a single mission.

"The logistics of building four of the same thing is a new challenge, one that really makes us push the boundaries of how we operate," said Brent Robertson the MMS deputy project manager at Goddard.

"These are first generation, new science observatories, and we've built them all at the same time. It's been like a very intense game of musical chairs."

The large Goddard MMS clean room can hold all four spacecraft at once, and a detailed schedule keeps track of how the team is moving from task to task. The MMS team has cause for pride in their work: building four observatories for a single mission, when many don't have the chance to build four in an entire career.

Due to launch in late 2014, MMS will investigate how the sun and Earth's magnetic fields connect and disconnect, explosively transferring energy from one to the other - a fundamental physical process that occurs throughout the universe, known as magnetic reconnection.

Using four spacecraft will provide MMS with the multipoint measurements needed to determine whether reconnection events occur in an isolated locale, everywhere within a larger region at once, or by traveling across space.

.


Related Links
Sun-Earth at NASA
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EARTH OBSERVATION
Landsat 8 Satellite Begins Watch
Reston, VA (SPX) Jun 03, 2013
NASA transferred operational control Thursday of the Landsat 8 satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in a ceremony in Sioux Falls, S.D. The event marks the beginning of the satellite's mission to extend an unparalleled four-decade record of monitoring Earth's landscape from space. Landsat 8 is the latest in the Landsat series of remote-sensing satellites, which have been providing ... read more


EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA's GRAIL Mission Solves Mystery of Moon's Surface Gravity

Moon dust samples missing for 40 years found in Calif. warehouse

Unusual minerals in moon craters may have been delivered from space

Moon being pushed away from Earth faster than ever

EARTH OBSERVATION
Mars Curiosity Rover Provides Strong Evidence for Flowing Water

Ten Years At Mars: New Global Views Plot History Of The Red Planet

Flowing Water Transported Sand, Rocks Along Martian Streambed

Leicester Scientist Helps Discover Ancient Streambed On Mars

EARTH OBSERVATION
White House moves to curb 'patent trolls'

A certain level of stress is necessary

Northrop Grumman-Built Modular Space Vehicle Nears Completion of Manufacturing Phase

French government posts space counsellor in Bangalore

EARTH OBSERVATION
Shenzhou-10 spacecraft to be launched in mid-June

Sizing Up Shenzhou 10

Rollout for Shenzhou 10

Soft Pedal for Shenzhou 10

EARTH OBSERVATION
International trio takes shortcut to space station

Science and Maintenance for Station Crew, New Crew Members Prep for Launch

ESA Euronews: Living in space

Next destination: space

EARTH OBSERVATION
The Future of Space Launch

Rocket Engine Maker Proton-PM to Invest in New Products

Russia Launches European Telecoms Satellite

Ariane poised to launch first 20 ton payload into orbit

EARTH OBSERVATION
In feat, telescope directly spots lightweight exoplanet

Scouting for Not-So-Distant Worlds

Lightest exoplanet imaged so far?

Big Weather on Hot Jupiters

EARTH OBSERVATION
Another American High Frontier First: 3-D Manufacturing in Space

Charred micro-bunny sculpture shows promise of new material for 3-D shaping

Flexible opals make for some colourful material science

The formula for turning cement into metal




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement