The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission


The MMS mission is a Solar-Terrestrial Probe Program mission set up by NASA to send four identical spacecraft into Earth's magnetosphere in 2014. These four spacecraft will research magnetic reconnection, a basic process that converts the magnetic field rays into heat and kinetic energy, usually explosively,in the form of large-scale flows of matter.

This magentic reconnection occurs throughtout the universe in plasmas. This mix accounts for approximately 99% of the observable universe, and drives what is known as 'space weather', such as geomagnetic storms. Other roles of magentic reconnection include star accretion disc interactions, pulsar wind acceleration and the acceleration of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays in active glactic nuclei jets. Reconnection can also occur in man-made settings such as fusion machines and laboratory experiments.

The Primary goals of the mission include:
• Investigation of the kinetic processes responsible for collisionless magnetic reconnection and to discover how it begins
• Study the factors that influence the location of the magnetic reconnection
• Iidentify where magnetic reconnection occurs in the magnetopause and the magnetotail
• Understand how the reconnection process varies through time and to recognize the factors that influence its temporal behavior
• Study the factors that influence the location of the magnetic reconnection
• Comprehend flux transfer, flux rope formation, and flux rope evolution

Secondary goals include:
• Distinguishing the properties and processes associated with magnetospheric turbulence
• Grasping the role of inductive electric fields and wave-particle interactions in acceleration processes

We as young scientists aspiring to learn more about the universe, will attempt to explain the MMS project in some detail but also so anyone can understand. Continue on the pages to the left to learn more about the mission.