MMS Phase 2b: Transitioning to Magnetosphere Science on the Darkside

  • Released Thursday, February 9, 2017
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Visualization of the spacecraft orbit transition from apogee at the dayside magnetopause to the nightside magnetopause.

Completing its study of magnetic reconnection at the boundary between Earth and the sun, the MMS spacecraft fleet transitions its orbit to studying magnetospheric events near the shadow of Earth.

Current scheduled maneuver times (subject to change) are:

  • February 1, 2017: Resize perigee (the point on the orbit closest to Earth) to 60km

  • February 9, 2017: First apogee (point on the orbit farthest from Earth) raising maneuver

  • April 8, 2017: Final apogee raising maneuver

  • April 16, 2017: Perigee resizing

  • April 26, 2017: Reinitializing formation flying

The magnetosphere boundary represents a point of balance between the pressure of the solar wind passing Earth and the outward magnetic pressure of Earth's magnetic field. The location in this visualization is representative at may not accurately reflect the position relative to the spacecraft at any given future time.

MMS formation flying mode passing across the dayside magnetopause.

MMS formation flying mode passing across the dayside magnetopause.

Apogee-raising maneuvers begin.

Apogee-raising maneuvers begin.

The individual spacecraft spread out along the orbit.

The individual spacecraft spread out along the orbit.

More apogee raising maneuvers.

More apogee raising maneuvers.

Giving each other lots of room...

Giving each other lots of room...

Finishing up apogee-raising boosts.

Finishing up apogee-raising boosts.

Moving back into formation flying.

Moving back into formation flying.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Thursday, February 9, 2017.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 12:08 AM EST.

Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions:

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