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Home , Parker Solar Probe

Issue 12 • February 2019

Features: MMS update • LASP provides IMAP instrument & SOC • Parker Solar Probe launches • Mission operations revolution

Letter from the director Dan Baker Explorer 1 made the first great discovery MMS update of the Space Age Magnetic reconnection is a universal 60 years ago. James process in space. At , the Van Allen and his interplanetary team showed that embedded in the can be Earth is shrouded opposite to the Earth’s magnetic in belts of magnetically confined, high- field. In this case, the two will energy charged particles. This revelation merge, or reconnect, in an x-shaped fascinated humanity and led to research formation, leading to an explosive that continues today. LASP is involved energy release that accelerates charged in the NASA Van Allen Probes mission, particles and drives large-scale flow which is rewriting textbooks about Earth’s This artist’s illustration shows MMS satellites flying in the Earth’s magnetosphere. This near the -facing edge of the Earth’s magnetic radiation belts. LASP designs, builds, and field. The spacecraft have made the first-ever direct is the main driver of magnetospheric detection of magnetic reconnection, an explosive operates sensors to measure Earth’s space activity—and space weather in energy burst, between the magnetic fields of Earth environment and extends this work far and the Sun. (Courtesy NASA) general—causing impacts to systems beyond Earth’s domain. ranging from the power grid to space missions. Understanding the space environment The NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission made a major discovery is a fascinating science enterprise and is in 2016 using particle data and electric and magnetic field data from the dayside of great practical importance. Virtually magnetosphere. It found that govern the conversion of stored magnetic all communications, weather, and other energy into kinetic energy and heat through reconnection. These electrons take on a remote sensing spacecraft on which society meandering “figure eight” orbit, which quickly removes them from the reconnection depends fly in near-Earth space. These “eyes plane and facilitates the process. in the sky” operate in a hostile radiation environment. The understanding we develop In 2018, MMS observed this same process in the Earth’s magnetospheric tail, at LASP advances science and makes space which demonstrated that it could occur in different conditions. Over the last safer for human and robotic explorers alike. few years, MMS also revealed that reconnection is a ubiquitous process occurring The theme of this issue is as timely throughout near-Earth space, including the magnetospheric flanks and the region of as today’s headlines: Space beckons and shocked called the magnetosheath. understanding it must go hand-in-hand with The MMS mission—launched in 2015—is a constellation of four closely spaced exploration. LASP is leading the way. satellites that measure how electrons facilitate the energy release of magnetic Continued on next page

[email protected] LASP • 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814 • 303-492-6412 • http://lasp.colorado.edu 2

Mission & technical stats reconnection. LASP hosts the payload our ability to predict and mitigate the operations and science data centers, and effects of solar activity on an increasingly • LASP operates 4 satellites. helped build the electric field instrument technological society. • LASP operates 146 instruments on and digital signal processing board. LASP For more information on MMS, visit 18 spacecraft. scientists study how parallel electric fields, http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions plasma , and turbulence impact -projects/quick-facts-mms/. • LASP is currently developing 8 spacecraft and 15 instruments the reconnection process to improve for 13 missions. By Rick Wilder, research scientist at LASP.

LASP provides instrument and SOC Staff stats for IMAP mission (September 26, 2018) The LASP Interstellar Dust Experiment Scientific researchers 69 (IDEX), led by co-investigators Mihály Tenure-track faculty 24 Horányi and Zoltan Sternovsky, was Visiting faculty 4 selected in June to be among 10 Professionals 314 instruments onboard the Interstellar Graduate students 53 Undergraduate students 92 Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) Retirees 18 mission. LASP will also provide the IMAP Temps 8 science operations center (SOC), led by Total 582 Dan Baker. Affiliates 239 IMAP, scheduled to launch in 2024, will operate from the Open positions 23 1 point between the Earth and the Sun. For employment information, visit http:// This illustration shows the Interstellar Mapping The instruments onboard will make and Acceleration Probe observing signals from lasp.colorado.edu/home/about/jobs. the interaction of the solar wind with the winds comprehensive observations of the local of other stars. (Courtesy NASA) interstellar medium to discover the fundamental physical processes that define distribution, and elemental and chemical the boundary with our . composition of interstellar dust particles Key hires The LASP-engineered IDEX dust flowing through our solar system. The analyzer will detect interstellar particles SOC builds on the highly successful Jerry Jason joins and characterize their interaction with model pioneered for the MMS mission LASP as the the boundary and the heliosphere. IDEX featured in the previous story. director of Mission will be the most capable dust instrument For more information on IMAP, visit Operations & Data ever launched and will provide the first http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions Systems. He has accurate measurements of the flux, size -projects/quick-facts-imap/. more than 25 years of executive and flight director By Zoltan Sternovsky, research scientist at LASP. experience at NASA and in the private sector, most recently as Spire Global’s mission operations director. Jerry has been recognized by NASA for significant leadership and achievements, including the “Steely-Eyed Missile Man” award for the STS-108 Space Shuttle Endeavor mission. 3

Mission status Parker Solar Probe launches on a Instrument Development (Pre-Phase A) mission to “touch the Sun” MatISSE LAMA

Phase A/B (funded concept study) SPRITE CubeSat CIRBE CubeSat CLARREO Pathfinder Compact TIM CubeSat CUTE CubeSat FOXSI/HFSS IMAP IDEX TSIS-2

Phase C (design and fabrication) Clipper/SUDA IXPE

An artist’s concept of Parker Solar Probe shows the spacecraft approaching the Sun. (Courtesy NASA/Johns Phase D (assembly and test) Hopkins University/APL/Steve Gribben) Emirates Mission (EMM) GOES-T/EXIS, GOES-U/EXIS Parker Solar Probe launched on August experiment. The DFB conducts critical 12, embarking on a historic mission to analog and digital signal processing of Launch/Early Orbit [launch date] “touch the Sun.” In early November, the scientific electric and magnetic field data, GOES-17/EXIS [Mar. 2018] spacecraft made its first close approach and is specially designed to operate in the Prime Mission [end date] to the Sun, gathering data on the physical challenging near-Sun environment. GOLD [2020] processes that heat the solar corona and Parker Solar Probe will have 24 close TSIS-1 [2023] accelerate the solar wind. encounters with the Sun over the next GOES-16/EXIS [2026] By exploring near-Sun fundamental six years—eventually coming within 6.2 Parker Solar Probe [Aug. 2025] physics, Parker Solar Probe will enhance million kilometers (3.85 million miles) Compact SIM CubeSat [Nov. 2020] our ability to predict space weather, and of the Sun’s surface—each time diving MinXSS-2 CubeSat [Nov. 2020] consequently, the radiation environment into the hostile near-Sun environment and in which future space explorers will work each time revealing more about the Sun’s Extended Mission [end date] and live. LASP scientists Robert Ergun mysteries. Van Allen Probes REPT/FIELDS [2019] and David Malaspina are co-investigators For more information on PSP, visit MAVEN [2019] on the FIELDS experiment. http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/missions SORCE [2019] LASP designed and built the Digital -projects/quick-facts-psp/. STPSat-3/TCTE [2019] Fields Board (DFB) for the FIELDS AIM [2020] MMS, four spacecraft [2020] By David Malaspina, research scientist at LASP. SDO/EVE [2020] THEMIS and ARTEMIS [2020] TIMED/SEE [2020] /SDC [2021] Mission operations revolution The LASP Mission Operations (“Ops”) It will spend the next ~90 years slowly For more information on current missions, portfolio of projects is undergoing a deorbiting. The as well as full instrument and mission transformation. The 19-year-old Quick completed its final science campaign on names, visit http://lasp.colorado.edu. Scatterometer mission ended with a final October 14, after expending the last of its command to the satellite on October 2. fuel. On November 15 the final command 4 was sent from LASP to Kepler, relegating Operations Center in a previously unused it also to the realm of decommissioned third-floor space. spacecraft. Additionally, Ops is preparing to It’s not all goodbyes though: LASP support launch of the Emirates Mars completed commissioning activities and Mission in July 2020, and to operate the began operating the Compact Spectral Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, Irradiance Monitor CubeSat (CSIM) after slated for launch in April 2021. its launch on December 3. In support of For more information on LASP Mission

CSIM—as well as third-party and other operations, visit http://lasp.colorado.edu LASP operations staff commission the CSIM LASP CubeSat missions like MinXSS— /home/mission-ops-data/. and MinXSS-2 after deployment from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Spaceflight’s LASP has completed a Small Satellite 64-satellite ride-share mission dubbed SSO-A SmallSat Express. SSO-A launched from Vandenberg By Darren Osborne, mission operations flight director at LASP. Air Force Base on Monday, December 3. (Courtesy Patricio Lujan/LASP)

News

Goodnight Kepler

On October 30, NASA announced that the “As NASA’s first planet-hunting On November 15 at 9:05 PM MT, Kepler spacecraft finally ran out of fuel mission, Kepler has wildly exceeded all LASP graduate student Reidar Larsen sent and will no longer hunt for planets beyond our expectations and paved the way for the last command to the spacecraft, putting our solar system. Launched in March our exploration and search for life in the Kepler to sleep for eternity in its orbit 2009, and operated at LASP, Kepler (later solar system and beyond,” said Thomas a safe distance from the Earth. Imagine extended as the K2 mission) discovered Zurbuchen, associate administrator of putting that on your post-university more than 2,600 exoplanets. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. résumé.

Education and Outreach

Data visualization tool for the GOLD mission

The LASP Office of Communications based, interactive data visualization tool. energy input from above and is affected by and Outreach is leading communications The data viewer will display near-real- atmospheric waves and tides from below. and outreach for the NASA Global-scale time GOLD instrument data, along with a The GOLD data visualization tool Observations of the Limb and Disk, or series of educational components to provide will enable the public to understand GOLD, mission. As part of this program, background information about GOLD the complexities of the Earth’s upper which includes content management for and its science objectives. An ultraviolet atmosphere and to recognize how changes the GOLD website, social media efforts, an imaging spectrograph built at LASP, GOLD in this region can impact our increasingly ongoing webinar series, and print and visual will provide unprecedented details about technological society. The tool can be media production, LASP is creating a web- near-Earth space, which receives solar found at http://gold.cs.ucf.edu.

Achievement awards

Fran Bagenal was awarded the prestigious to advancing the understanding of space distinguished scientists with proven AGU 2018 James Van Allen Lecture for physics and aeronomy. Named lectures leadership in their fields of science. her sustained and unique contributions offered by AGU sections recognize 5

Student news Dan Baker is the 2018 recipient of the Justin Deighan won the 2018 NASA Early AGU William Bowie Medal. As the highest Career Public Achievement Medal. The Christopher Moore, who received a honor given by the organization, only one is medal is awarded to non-government Ph.D. in astrophysics in December of awarded each year and previous recipients employees for unusual and significant 2017, is now a postdoctoral fellow at include James A. Van Allen. The award— performance during the first 10 years the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for given for “outstanding contributions for of their career in support of the NASA Astrophysics. fundamental geophysics and for unselfish Mission. This is a notable achievement, in cooperation in research”—recognizes that, for someone at such an early phase of Baker’s exceptional scholarship and a career, the award recognizes substantial Visit LASP online leadership in space science and the broader improvement in the discipline area. field of space weather and . Bill McClintock was awarded the 2018 Baker was also awarded the European NASA Distinguished Public Service Geosciences Union (EGU) 2019 Hannes Award. This is NASA’s highest form of Alfvén Medal, bestowed for outstanding recognition awarded to a non-government scientific contributions towards the individual. The recipient’s contributions understanding of plasma processes in the LASP homepage Newsletter archives must reach a level of excellence that has solar system and other cosmical plasma made a profound or indelible impact Links to a variety of social media environments. The medal recognizes on NASA mission success, and thus networks can be found on our homepage, Baker’s important contributions to, and http://lasp.colorado.edu. is so extraordinary that other forms of leadership in, the Earth, planetary, and recognition by NASA would be inadequate. space sciences and will be presented at the EGU General Assembly, in Vienna in April.

If you know someone who might like to receive LASPSpace, please encourage them to email Laura Bloom, publisher, Administrative update at [email protected] to subscribe. Should you prefer not New SmallSat operations center online to receive future issues, please email with “Unsubscribe LASPSpace” in the LASP recently completed final services to the small satellite community subject line. preparations of a new Small Satellite now that the MinXSS-2 and CSIM Operations Center (SSOC) to support satellites have been commissioned. To view LASPSpace archives, visit http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/about the launch, commissioning, and flight Efforts are underway to connect the /publications/newsletters/. operations of the MinXSS-2 and CSIM SSOC to remote antennas located at CubeSats, which launched December 3 on National Central University in Taiwan, SpaceFlight’s SSO-A rideshare mission. Nanyang Technological University in The communications ground network Singapore, and at LATMOS in France. currently consists of a UHF antenna and a Establishing this operations network is 4.2m S-band dish, both on top of LASP’s a major milestone in LASP’s ability to Space Technology Building, along with support the expanding need of the space a UHF antenna system in Fairbanks, AK. community for small satellite operations. The SSOC will offer mission operations

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and (LASP) combines all aspects of through our expertise in science, engineering, mission operations, and data management. As an institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, LASP includes students throughout our activities. Learn more at http://lasp.colorado.edu.