RBSP is designed to help us understand the sun's influence on the Earth and near-Earth space by studying the planet's radiation belts on various scales of space and time.
Understanding the radiation belt environment and its variability has extremely important practical applications in the areas of spacecraft operations, spacecraft and spacecraft system design, mission planning, and astronaut safety.
RBSP is scheduled to launch no earlier than 4:08 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 23 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The twin probes will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
News conference panelists are:
— Madhulika Guhathakurta, Living With a Star program scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington
— Mona Kessel, RBSP program scientist, NASA Headquarters
— Barry Mauk, RBSP project scientist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Md.
— Rick Fitzgerald, RBSP project manager, APL, Laurel, Md.