Watch MMS spacecraft launch tonight

A stack of four identical spacecraft will study Earth’s magnetosphere – the comet-shaped magnetic shield that protects us from “space weather.” The Atlas V rocket is on the launchpad. NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission – a stack of four identical satellites atop a 191-foot Atlas V rocket – is scheduled to lift off at 10:44 p.m. EDT tonight (March 12, 2015) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television launch coverage begins Thursday at 8 p.m. The quartet of identical satellites will examine Earth’s magnetosphere, which helps protect the planet from “space weather” – a mixture of radiation and high-energy particles that bombard Earth from the sun and other sources. It’ll be used to study the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection. More about that below. More

(Source: EarthSky - Mar 13)