MMS at NRL

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden listens to Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission Project Manager Craig Tooley talk about the MMS mission outside of a Naval Research Laboratory cleanroom where one of four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft is currently undergoing testing, Monday, August 4, 2014, in Washington. The Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission will study the mystery of how magnetic fields around Earth connect and disconnect, explosively releasing energy via a process known as magnetic reconnection. The four identical spacecraft are scheduled to launch in 2015 from Cape Canaveral and will orbit around Earth in varying formations through the dynamic magnetic system surrounding our planet to provide the first three-dimensional views of the magnetic reconnection process. The goal of the STP Program is to understand the fundamental physical processes of the space environment from the sun to Earth, other planets, and the extremes of the solar system boundary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)