SOLVING MAGNETOSPHERIC ACCELERATION, RECONNECTION AND TURBULENCE

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SPACE WEATHER

STATUS

INDEX

102.62

PCP

3.9

PKP

2.33

KP
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LATEST MISSION NEWS | OLDER MISSION NEWS

 

OLDER MISSION NEWS

2014

  • Mission Highlights - December 19, 2014:
    • 3 of the 4 Navigator unit are now installed on Observatories with the 4th being hand-carried down from GSFC today.
    • All Solar Array cell inspections are complete.
    • The MMS Project supported the Launch Vehicle Readiness Review (LVRR) at KSC this week.
    • The Mission Operations Center (MOC) and Flight Software Sustaining engineering (FSSE) teams successfully completed dry-run the Observatory Flight Software (FSW) installation procedures on the spacecraft FlatSat in preparation for the actual FSW patches to the Observatories scheduled for next Monday.
  • Mission Highlights - November 20, 2014
    • All four MMS Observatories are now at Astrotech at CCAFS and the Functional Test of Observatory #4 is in progress this week. Launch site operations continue to proceed smoothly and on schedule. The Flight Operations Review/Operational Readiness Review (FOR/ORR) was completed this week. The Mission Operations Center (MOC) and Flight Software Sustaining Engineering (FSSE) teams successfully completed the remaining MRT-25 series to remotely load the operational flight keys to Observatories #3 and #4. The Space Network (SN) and MOC teams successfully completed the SN newly installed automated ground scheduling software. The MOC also successfully completed the Backup MOC telemetry and command interface and data flow test with WSC Programmable Telemetry Processors (PTPs).
  • Mission Highlights - November 13, 2014
    • All four MMS Observatories are now at Astrotech and preparations for Functional Testing of Observatories #3 and #4 are ongoing. Solar Array cell inspections are also ongoing with the vendor supporting on-site at Astrotech. All operations at the launch site continue to go very smoothly.
  • Mission Highlights - October 16, 2014
    • The investigation into the recent Observatory #4 Side A Navigator (weak signal GPS system) anomaly has revealed a failure in a RAM-3 RF amplifier microcircuit in the same circuit location as had been previously experienced. A weakness in the design that stresses the part in this particular circuit location has now been identified that was not understood previously. A rework plan for all four Navigators is being validated by testing on the ETU and evaluation boards. All four will be removed, reworked, and reintegrated at the launch site. No impact to shipping or launch date.
    • Mass properties/spin balance is complete on Observatories #1, #2 and #4 with #3 in progress this week.
    • Mission Readiness Test #17 (MRT17), a series of instrument operation and commissioning activity rehearsals, was completed this week.
    • Thermal Blanket closeouts and final metrology work continued this week on all Observatories.
  • Mission Highlights - September 18, 2014
    • MMS Observatory #1 completed mass properties testing and spin balance with excellent results well within allocations.
    • 3 of 4 MMS Observatories now have Solar Arrays installed for flight.
    • MMS Observatory #2 will complete final Comprehensive Performance Testing (CPT) Friday.
    • A Launch and Early Orbit simulation with contingencies was completed last weekend using all four Observatories and with TDRSS and KSC participation.
  • Mission Highlights - September 11, 2014
    • MMS Observatory #1 is in mass properties/spin balance testing in the MMS 160 cleanroom.
    • MMS Observatory #2 is completing Magnetometer Boom deployment testing and is being prepared for its final Comprehensive Performance Testing (CPT).
    • MMS Observatory #3 had its Navigator reintegrated.
    • MMS Observatory #4 is being utilized for Mission Readiness Test #17 (MRT) (Instrument commissioning and operation) this week.
    • All four MMS Observatories will be configured and used for this weekend's launch simulation MRT which will include TDRSS and KSP-LSP participation.
  • Mission Highlights - August 14, 2014
    • The final acoustic test of Observatory #1 was completed.
    • The last of 32 Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI) instruments was integrated onto Observatory #4.
    • The second of four re-worked Navigator boxes was integrated to Observatory #4.
    • A powered Launch Day simulation using all four MMS observatories was completed.
  • Mission Highlights - August 7, 2014
    • The Thermal-Vacuum (TVAC) test of Observatory #3 at NRL has been completed with no Observatory issues and the Observatory is now back at GSFC.
    • All four MMS Observatories are being prepared for a powered Launch Day Simulation to be conducted Saturday.
    • The last 2 of the 16 Spin Plane Double Probes (SDP) were integrated onto Observatory #2
    • Preparations for the acoustic tests of Observatories #1 and #2 on 8/11 and 8/16 is in progress.
  • Mission Highlights - June 5, 2014
    • The Flight Battery was installed and charged on MMS #4 and magnetic cancellation loop test is planned for Friday. Thermal Blanket installation continues in preparation for thermal-vacuum testing on MMS #3. Temperature testing of Propulsion thermostats in progress on MMS #2. The Solar Arrays and a Spin Plane Double Probe (SDP) unit were removed from MMS #1 for planned testing. Alignment and metrology measurements also continued on MMS #1.
  • Mission Highlights - May 29, 2014
    • Post Stacked Vibration test Functional Test was successfully completed on Observatory #1. Observatory #3 is being prepared for the upcoming thermal-vacuum test with Solar Array installation planned for 5/30 and final flight software load scheduled for next Monday. Post environmental testing work continues on Observatories #2 and #4.

2013

  • Working on Four Spacecraft Simultaneously
    01.24.13 - NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission clean room is buzzing with activity as engineers work on all four observatories at the same time.
  • Cluster Finds Turbulent Eddies May Warm the Solar Wind
    01.08.13 - A new study of data obtained by the European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft may help explain why the flow of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields from the sun, the solar wind, is hotter than it should be.

2012

2011

  • Goddard Building Instrument To Study Reconnection
    04.29.11 - At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, scientists and engineers are working on a crucial element of the the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission to study magnetic reconnection: the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI).

2010

2009

2008

  • NASA Goddard and University of Idaho Create Solutions for 2 NASA Missions
    12.19.08 - Pen-Shu Yeh is a senior engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and a grant technical officer. She's also the person that helped create unique solutions for data compression for future missions with a team from the University of Idaho (U-Idaho). Those solutions are now going to fly on two of NASA's upcoming missions.

MISCELLANEOUS

MMS EPO: Dr. Patricia Reiff
Director: Rice Space Institute
Updated: Jan 10, 2022		 MMS is a Solar-Terrestrial Probe Mission
a program of SWRI with NASA support