MMS

Nasa is preparing to launch quartet of Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft on 12 March aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, US.

Four observatories are being prepared at the agency’s cleanroom facility.

The MMS launch will be managed by the launch services programme at Nasa Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission is designed to study microphysics of three fundamental plasma processes, including magnetic reconnection, energetic particle acceleration, and turbulence.

Nasa heliophysics division interim director Jeff Newmark said: "Magnetic reconnection is one of the most important drivers of space weather events.

"The mission is designed to study microphysics of three fundamental plasma processes, including magnetic reconnection, energetic particle acceleration, and turbulence."

"Space weather events can affect modern technological systems such as communications networks, GPS navigation, and electrical power grids."

Planned to commence operations in September, the MMS will measure characteristics of reconnection events as they occur, Nasa said.

The four identical space observatories are said to offer a three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection, and feature sensors that assess space environment at faster rates than previous missions.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center MMS project manager Craig Tooley said: "MMS engineers have completed final observatory closeout procedures and checks, and are awaiting transport to the launch pad tomorrow for integration with the Atlas rocket."

Nasa Goddard Centre integrated and tested four MMS spacecraft, which will be controlled and operated from the MMS mission operations centre.

Southwest Research Institute MMS instrument suite science team principal investigator Jim Burch said: "MMS is a crucial next step in advancing the science of magnetic reconnection.

"Studying magnetic reconnection near Earth will unlock the ability to understand how this process works throughout the entire universe."

Image: Nasa’s Magnetospheric Multiscale observatories in the cleanroom being processed for launch. Photo: courtesy of Nasa / Ben Smegelsky.