From: baalke@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov   
      
   Dwayne Brown   
   Headquarters, Washington 		September 26, 2003   
   (Phone: 202/358-1726)   
      
   Nancy Neal   
   Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.   
   (Phone: 301/286-0039)   
      
   RELEASE: 03-307   
      
   NASA SELECTS TWO MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE MISSION   
   PROPOSALS FOR FEASIBILITY STUDIES   
      
        In the first step of a two-step process, NASA has selected   
   two teams to conduct concept studies for the Magnetospheric   
   Multiscale (MMS) Mission, the fourth investigation in NASA's   
   Solar Terrestrial Probe mission line.   
      
   The proposals selected for further study address the scientific   
   objective of the MMS mission, to explore and understand   
   fundamental plasma-physics processes of magnetic reconnection,   
   particle acceleration and turbulence in the Earth's   
   magnetosphere. These three processes, which control the flow of   
   energy, mass and momentum, within and across magnetospheric   
   boundaries, occur throughout the universe and are fundamental   
   to our understanding of astrophysical and solar system plasmas.   
      
   The selected proposals that will provide instrument suites   
   dedicated to the pursuit of the MMS science objectives are:   
      
   *	"An Instrument Suite for the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale   
   Mission," led by Dr. James P. McFadden of the University of   
   California at Berkeley; and   
   *	"Solving Magnetospheric Acceleration, Reconnection, and   
   Turbulence," led by Dr. James L. Burch of Southwest Research   
   Institute, San Antonio.   
      
   "The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission will help us understand   
   the fundamental physical processes responsible for transfer of   
   energy from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere," said   
   Dick Fisher, Director of the Sun-Earth Connection Division in   
   NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington.   
      
   "What we learn from MMS will have application far beyond the   
   Earth, because the Earth's magnetosphere provides the only   
   laboratory in which fundamental astrophysical plasma processes   
   are readily accessible for sustained study. MMS results will   
   directly contribute to NASA's mission to advance our scientific   
   knowledge and understanding of Earth, the solar system and the   
   universe," Fisher explained.   
      
   The selected proposals, which were submitted to NASA in March   
   2003 in response to the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission   
   Announcement of Opportunity, were both judged to have high   
   scientific and technical merit. Each will receive $1 million to   
   conduct a six-month implementation-feasibility study focused on   
   cost, management and technical plans, including educational   
   outreach and small business involvement.   
      
   The Solar Terrestrial Probe (STP) Program is a sequence of   
   community-defined strategic projects that provide in-situ and   
   remote sensing observations, from multiple platforms, for   
   sustained study of the Sun-Earth system. The first STP, the   
   Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics   
   mission was launched December 7, 2001. The next two missions in   
   the STP program, Solar-B and the Solar Terrestrial Relations   
   Observatory, are scheduled for launch in 2006 and 2005   
   respectively.   
      
   The STP Program is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight   
   Center, Greenbelt, Md., for the Sun-Earth Connection Division   
   of the Office of Space Science, Washington.   
      
   For more information on NASA and NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probe   
   program, visit:   
      
   http://www.nasa.gov   
      
   and   
      
   http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/   
      
      
   -end-   
      
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