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NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) was launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 421 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) located in Florida. This version of the rocket uses a four meter payload fairing and two Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ60A solid rocket motors. The spacecraft was delivered to orbit on March 12, 2015 at 10:44 p.m. ET (02:44 GMT on March 13). The mission used four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation to gain data regarding the physics of magnetic reconnection, energetic particle acceleration, and turbulence, processes that occur in astrophysical plasmas. Manufactured by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center located in Greenbelt, Maryland, the spacecraft had a launch mass of approximately 2,998 lbs (1,360 kilograms). Photos courtesy: Michael Howard, Michael Deep
