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Science Investigations

There are 2 missions being sent out as of now to study the space weather and the effects it will have on human life. One of them is the MMS (Magnetospheric MultiScale ) led by National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) and the other is CLUSTER led by European Space Agency(ESA).The main mission that will be talked about on this site is the Magnetospheric MultiScale(MMS) Mission led by NASA (NAtional Aeronautics and Space Adminstration.

About MMS

The Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) Instrument Suite team of Southwest Research Institute (SRI) was selected by NASA to work on the MMS Project in mission formulation. For this mission, SwRI is partnering with the University of New Hampshire, the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The team from CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics will be part of NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale mission as well. A number of U.S. and international scientists from other universities and institutions are also participating. The science payload and analysis of its data are expected to cost $140 million. Launch of the $700 million mission is scheduled for July 2013,and 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. The magnetosphere is the region above the Earth's atmosphere encompassing the planet's magnetic field, which frequently is battered by violent space weather disruptive to spacecraft and Earth communications. The MMS mission will begin with the simultaneous launch of four disk-shaped satellites resembling "flying porcupines," each about three feet high and seven feet in diameter with extensive instrumentation and protruding antennas. 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. (NASA).

Objectives of MMS

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. It will also for the first time measure the 3D structure and dynamics of the key magnetospheric boundary regions, from the subsolar magnetopause to the distant tail. It will also pave the way for future Constellation-type missions.

Smart (Studying Magnetospheric Acceleration, Reconnection and Turbulence

As you know, SwRI (Southwest Research Institute) is leading NASA's MMS mission. They have called their research and mission SMART which stands for Studying Magnetospheric Acceleration, Reconnection, and Turbulence. Researchers need a global perspective to understand the complex processes that transport, accelerate and energize plasmas in the magnetosphere. The first truly global measurements began with the 2000 launch of the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft, also led by SwRI. "MMS will complement the IMAGE concept by providing multi-point measurements in three dimensions, using updated technologies to probe the small-scale processes that drive the global dynamics," says Burch.The most important of these processes is magnetic reconnection, which explosively converts magnetic field energy to heat and kinetic energy of charged particles. At the Earth, magnetic reconnection energizes the magnetosphere, ultimately causing the aurora and magnetic storms. At the Sun, it causes solar flares and other energetic outbursts. Throughout the universe, it is one of the processes that accelerates high-energy cosmic rays. The SMART experiment on MMS will study the physical processes that occur when plasma streaming from the sun triggers outbursts like electromagnetic storms that can affect orbiting spacecraft as well as power grids on Earth. The SMART experiment will use the sophisticated antennas to gather data on the processes occurring in the electrified plasma, which will be sent to LASP's Space Technology Building, archived and distributed to scientists around the world, including researchers at CU-Boulder. LASP (CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) will help design, fabricate and test components for the SMART experiment. According to NASA officials at the Goddard Space Flight Center, the MMS mission is expected to help scientists better understand the effects of the sun on Earth, the solar system and the space environment frequented by astronauts.(NASA) CREDIT IS PROVIDED TO NASA'S MMS WEBSITE AT:http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/mms/mms.htm