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[Music]

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magnetic reconnection is the process of

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disconnecting or connecting the magnetic

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fields to each other

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directing energy into the earth on the

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day side and then letting it go on the

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night side and the interplay between

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those two is what produces all la space

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weather around the earth that has big

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effects can damage our spacecraft can

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hurt astronauts can upset the flow of

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electron or G and our electric grid on

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the surface of the earth MMS is a

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mission with four spacecraft that are

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traveling in formation in an orbit that

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takes them out into two special places

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near the earth one upstream toward the

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Sun on downstream away from the Sun both

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of those places have magnetic

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reconnection we have never before NMS

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had the ability to essentially run the

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camera fast enough to catch it as it

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goes by to make mini measurements per

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second the science payload for her mass

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is all mounted on a single deck plate

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but it consists of some 25 boxes per

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spacecraft divided into three general

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groups of instruments that's those for

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measuring fields electric and magnetic

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those for measuring plasmas in a third

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for measuring energetic particles the

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magnetic field sensors are out on arms

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that extend away from the spacecraft

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they're fixed but the spacecraft is

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spinning slowly about once every 20

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seconds the electric field is quite a

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bit different

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it consists of four wires that extend

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out away from the spacecraft with a ball

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on the end of each of them that actually

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contacts the plasma all four of those

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are spinning around with the spacecraft

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at this twenty second period and then

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there's a third axis that extends their

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booms that extend along the spin axis of

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the spacecraft both upward and downward

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with a probe at the ends you've got

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three components of the electric field

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they can measure everything from up to

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small Wiggles and vibrations of the

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electric field another sensor called the

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searchcoil magnet

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that is just a loop of wire connected to

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a suitable amplifier and is designed to

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measure the fluctuations at higher

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frequencies then you could get with the

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DC magnetometers for the plasmas there

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are eight boxes two boxes at each of the

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four points of the compass on the

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spacecraft those are equally spaced all

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the way around the spacecraft

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essentially that is a real key

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ingredient for being able to see the

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entire sky instantaneously without

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waiting for the spacecraft to spin then

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there's also a hot plasma composition

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analyzer one per spacecraft it has a

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sensor head that looks all around in a

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360-degree annulus sticks out the side

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of the spacecraft and sweeps out the

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whole sky twice per spin it measures the

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chemical species of the particles the

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third set are the energetic particles

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analyzers and they are measuring much

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more energetic particles that are

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accelerated by the reconnection process

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ultimately the thing we will be doing is

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comparing our observations with

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simulations of the entire magnetosphere

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as it is influenced by the solar wind

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coming in down to the details of what

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reconnection is occurring people who do

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those simulations that try to apply them

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to all other kinds of places like in the

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solar atmosphere at other Astrophysical

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stars and other objects and they are

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very interested in whether those

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simulations are accurate and reflect

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reality well this is going to be the

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first time we actually bump them up

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against hard data on what's going on in

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their eye I'm almost certain I'm very

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certain they're going to learn something

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from that and the simulations will get

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better

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we're doing a measure thing at rates

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that have never been done before and in

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places that have been hard to reach or

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even see because they go by too fast to