3
2
1
0
and lift off
of the Atlas V
with MMS
using magnetic reconnection
to fill in pieces of the puzzle
of space weather.
Understanding vast forces in space and how they affect life here on Earth requires
comprehending what's going on out there. On March 12, 2015, NASA launched four identical
Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites, or MMS, atop a powerful Atlas V rocket from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station to do just that.
Together the spacecraft now are helping scientists understand and better predict space
weather patterns, such as solar wind, by studying a little-understood phenomenon called
magnetic reconnection.
These geomagnetic storms can interrupt the work of satellites that provide crucial services
in today's world.
MMS is performing its measurements in Earth's magnetosphere, an ideal natural laboratory
in which reconnection can be observed under a wide range of conditions.
Just a few months after the start of the science phase of the mission, MMS began delivering
promising early results on the magnetic reconnection processes that are related to everything
from the northern lights to solar flares.