MMS Science Overview: The Mysteries of MMS

Credits

• Animators

  • Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
  • Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)

• Video editor

  • Genna Duberstein (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

• Interviewees

  • John Charles Dorelli (NASA/GSFC)
  • Michael Hesse (NASA/GSFC)

• Producer

  • Genna Duberstein (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

• Project support

  • Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Related Pages

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    This short video outlines the MMS mission and its first results. Since it launched, MMS has made more than 4,000 trips through the magnetic boundaries around Earth, each time gathering information about the way the magnetic fields and particles move. A surprising result was that at the moment of interconnection between the sun’s magnetic field lines and those of Earth the crescents turned abruptly so that the electrons flowed along the field lines. By watching these electron tracers, MMS made the first observation of the predicted breaking and interconnection of magnetic fields in space. Credit: NASA/GSFCWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || mmsthumb.jpg (1280x720) [139.4 KB] || mmsthumb_print.jpg (1024x576) [161.8 KB] || mmsthumb_searchweb.png (320x180) [104.3 KB] || mmsthumb_web.png (320x180) [104.3 KB] || mmsthumb_thm.png (80x40) [6.8 KB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2.mov (1920x1080) [4.2 GB] || PRORES_B-ROLL_12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2_prores.mov (1280x720) [2.2 GB] || YOUTUBE_HQ_12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [1.1 GB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [76.9 MB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2.webm (1920x1080) [18.1 MB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [77.0 MB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2.en_US.srt [3.0 KB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2.en_US.vtt [3.0 KB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2_lowres.mp4 (480x272) [21.6 MB] || 12239_MMS_First_ResultsV2_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [26.3 MB] ||

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    ID: 10204 Produced Video

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    ID: 11700 Produced Video

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    ID: 20214 Animation

    MMS Launch and Deployment

    Oct. 6th, 2014
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    ID: 11485 Produced Video

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    May 6th, 2014
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    Scientist John Dorelli explains the MMS mission's orbit and why the four spacecraft fly in a tetrahedron formation. On its journey, MMS will observe a little-understood, but universal phenomenon called magnetic reconnection, responsible for dramatic re-shaping of the magnetic environment near Earth, often sending intense amounts of energy and fast-moving particles off in a new direction. Not only is this a fundamental physical process that occurs throughout the universe, it is also one of the drivers of space weather events at Earth. To truly understanding the process, requires four identical spacecraft to track how such reconnection events move across and through any given space in 3D. ||

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    ID: 11524 Produced Video

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    April 18th, 2014
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    The Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission stacked all four of its spacecraft in preparation for vibration testing. This time lapse shows one image every thirty seconds over three days of work. First, the spacecraft are assembled into mini-stacks, or placed on top of each other in sets of two. To create a full stack, engineers lift one mini-stack on top of another.Vibration testing simulates the conditions that the MMS spacecraft will experience during launch.MMS will study how the sun and the Earth's magnetic fields connect and disconnect, an explosive process that can accelerate particles through space to nearly the speed of light. This process is called magnetic reconnection and can occur throughout all space. ||

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  • 

    ID: 20210 Animation

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    March 14th, 2014
    (updated Nov. 14th, 2023)

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