March 2015 – Page 6 – Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

MMS Countdown Dress Rehearsal Today

The launch countdown mission dress rehearsal for the Atlas V launch team and MMS payload test team is under way today. All countdown activities for the launch vehicle and spacecraft are being replicated during the exercise. NASA, United Launch Alliance, Goddard Space Flight Center and Southwest Research Institute are all participating in the test.

The weather forecast for Thursday is generally favorable with only a 30 per cent chance of not meeting the launch weather criteria during the 30-minute launch window due to cloud constraints.

Launch remains scheduled for Thursday, March 12 at 10:44 p.m.

MMS Cleared to Proceed Toward Launch

At the conclusion of a Flight Readiness Review on Friday, March 6, NASA and United Launch Alliance (ULA) managers gave a “go” to continue preparations leading to the planned liftoff of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft atop a ULA Atlas V rocket at 10:44 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 12. The Mission Dress Rehearsal, during which MMS and the Atlas will be powered up, is scheduled for Monday, March 9. The final management review before flight, the Launch Readiness Review (LRR), will be conducted on Tuesday, March 10. Following the LRR, NASA Television will air the MMS Prelaunch News Conference at 1 p.m. EDT.

MMS will study magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process that occurs throughout the universe when magnetic fields connect and disconnect explosively, releasing energy and accelerating particles up to nearly the speed of light. Unlike previous missions that have observed only evidence of magnetic reconnection events, MMS has sufficient resolution to observe and measure reconnection events as they occur. While MMS will fly through reconnection regions in less than a second, key sensors on each spacecraft are able to capture measurements 100 times faster than any previous mission. In addition, MMS consists of four identical observatories, which together will provide the first ever three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection.

The mission observes reconnection directly in Earth’s protective magnetic space environment known as the magnetosphere. By studying reconnection in this local, natural laboratory, MMS helps scientists understand reconnection elsewhere, such as in the atmosphere of the sun and other stars, in the vicinity of black holes and neutron stars and at the boundary between our solar system’s heliosphere and interstellar space.

Test Your MMS Knowledge

How much do you know about NASA’s upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale mission? Take our mission quiz to find out!

Don’t worry — if you get stuck on a question, the “Research” button will help you find the information you need. Get every answer right, and you’ll have the chance to print a certificate.

Integrated Systems Test Under Way

The Integrated Systems Test between the MMS spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V is underway today at Space Launch Complex 41’s Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral. This test verifies that the spacecraft and the launch vehicle are working together in unison and that the Atlas V and MMS are in full communication with one another. Other communications links with ground support and launch equipment interfaces are also being verified.

After the IST is completed later today , the stand-alone MMS spacecraft functional test which was started Monday will be finished. All launch preparations continue on schedule for a liftoff on March 12.