Fall Meeting 2015 Press Workshop: NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

After 10 years of challenging development, the four identical spacecraft of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission spacecraft launched in 2015. They are now flying in a tighter and tighter formation to reveal the microphysics of our space environment, including the dynamic phenomenon of “magnetic reconnection” in the magnetic fields surrounding Earth. MMS provides unprecedentedly-fast observations – at 30 images per second — showing the first-ever three-dimensional views of magnetic reconnection, in which magnetic fields come together and explosively release energy and send particles in all directions. MMS observations began with the spacecraft 160 kilometers (100 miles) apart and have progressed as they closed to just 10 kilometers (6 miles) apart. In preparation for a host of ground-breaking results expected in 2016, a panel of MMS team members will discuss early results from the mission, explain what happens when reconnection joins the sun’s magnetic field with the Earth’s, and why we need four ultrahigh resolution spacecraft flying in formation to learn how reconnection works.

Participants:
Jim Burch, Magnetospheric Multiscale Principal Investigator, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio TX, USA;
Michael Hesse, MMS Theory and Modeling Lead Co-Investigator, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt MD, USA;
Katherine Goodrich, Student Research Scientist, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO USA;
Ian Cohen, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD USA.

[simonbattle]

Anyone know the reason why no one had any questions? Were they all that brilliant and understood the subject entirely? Or was it no one wanted to admit that they didn't grasp the information straight out of the shoot sort of speak? I do hope is wasn't a lack of curiosity.

[justinalvarado]

How much energy is released at the re-connection points? can we harness that energy?

[justinalvarado]

What happens at the Magnetopause?? What did you find? What really happens at the re-connection point. lIST THE THEORIES AND SUPRISES