Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission Status

Abstract:

The MMS mission, with its four fully instrumented reconnection probes, is manifested for launch in March 2015 from Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The initial orbits will be 12 R_E geocentric radius by 1200 km altitude at 28˚ inclination, maneuvered into a resizable tetrahedral formation that will pass through the persistent sites of magnetic reconnection nearest to Earth. The Observatories, each with suite of instruments, underwent thermal vacuum testing serially beginning in late Nov 2013, with the final testing completed in July 2014. Pre-Shipment Review was held in late October 2014 prior to shipment of stacked pairs of Observatories to the launch processing site at KSC (Astrotech). They are now being processed in stacked pairs, pending full stacking as a constellation and installation on the Atlas V - Series 421 launch vehicle that will carry them into orbit. Final propulsion functional testing and launch rehearsal operations will be conducted this month. The Science and Engineering Team is preparing for commissioning and early operations immediately after launch by executing Mission Readiness Tests (MRTs) to exercise all systems including the “Scientist In The Loop” or SITL system that will provide human oversight of the prioritization of high resolution data segments for downloading to the ground. The Theory and Modeling team and three Interdisciplinary Science teams continue to develop virtual spacecraft data sets and displays as an aid to identification of features of interest during operations. Phase 1 operations will probe the dayside low latitude reconnection features, beginning in August 2015, as the constellation moves into the afternoon local time sector. More information is available at http://science.nasa.gov/missions/mms/, http://mms.gsfc.nasa.gov, and other linked sites.