Magnetospheric Multiscale
NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission uses four identical spacecraft to investigate magnetic reconnection, the rapid rearrangement of magnetic fields that transfers stored energy into plasma heating and particle acceleration. The formation travels through reconnection regions on Earth's sunward side and in its magnetotail, comparing fast measurements from separated locations. These observations reveal the small-scale physics behind a process that also drives solar eruptions and occurs throughout the universe.
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Identity
- Aliases
- MMSMagnetospheric Multiscale Mission
- Name
- Magnetospheric Multiscale
- Status
- active
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission uses four identical spacecraft to investigate magnetic reconnection, the rapid rearrangement of magnetic fields that transfers stored energy into plasma heating and particle acceleration. The formation travels through reconnection regions on Earth's sunward side and in its magnetotail, comparing fast measurements from separated locations. These observations reveal the small-scale physics behind a process that also drives solar eruptions and occurs throughout the universe.
- Destination
- Highly elliptical Earth orbit in a four-spacecraft tetrahedral formation for three-dimensional measurements of magnetic reconnection where the solar wind meets Earth’s magnetosphere
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- MMS has measured magnetic reconnection in detail and found it in turbulent environments where earlier theories did not predict it. By its tenth anniversary in March 2025, mission data had supported more than 1,500 scientific papers. The four-spacecraft observatory remains active, improving understanding of plasma energy transfer and the physical processes linking solar activity to Earth's space environment.
- Programs
- Start Date
- 2015-03-13
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mms/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 15, 2026 at 09:03:34 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 13:17:45 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles
- -