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Nancy Neal
NASA Headquarters, Washington            January 23, 2003
(Phone: 202-358-2369)

RELEASE: 03-017

NASA ASSIGNS "LIVING WITH A STAR MISSIONS" TO APL

     NASA has authorized the John Hopkins University Applied Physics 
Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Md., to proceed with the implementation of 
the Geospace missions under NASA's existing "Living with a Star" 
contract with APL. The Living with a Star (LWS) program seeks to 
address how the variability in the sun affects life on Earth as well 
as its affect on space weather.

LWS sets out to quantify the physics, dynamics and behavior of the 
Sun-Earth system over the 11-year solar cycle and improve 
understanding of solar variability and disturbances on terrestrial 
climate change. It will also provide data and scientific understanding 
aimed at developing a predictive capability for space weather affects. 
In addition, LWS will give scientists a detailed characterization of 
radiation environments useful in the design of more reliable
electronic components for air and space transportation systems.

The two missions assigned to the APL make-up the LWS Geospace Project. 
These missions were recently identified in a study completed by the 
Geospace Mission Definition Team, a group tasked by NASA Headquarters 
to identify LWS Geospace Project goals and priorities. The two 
missions are the Ionosphere-Thermosphere Mapper Mission (ITM) and the
Radiation Belt Mapper Mission (RBM).

The first of these, the ITM mission, will investigate the physical 
processes that modify and change the Earth's thin outer atmosphere, 
the region where the planet meets space. The ITM will make 
measurements of the composition and physical properties of the upper 
atmosphere between 53-620 miles altitude. Understanding this region of 
space above Earth, and the sun's effects, will help us with the
operation of the International Space Station that operates in this 
region. It is also a region that modifies the signals of navigation 
satellites, such as the Global Positioning System.

The Radiation Belt Mission will use two spacecraft in a near 
equatorial elliptical orbit to take measurements in the space above 
the ionosphere where the Earth's magnetic field interacts with the 
magnetic field of the sun. The interaction of these fields of wind 
provides an energy source for the Earth's magnetosphere and drives a 
part of the observed variation of the Earth's magnetic field. It is in 
this region the processes of interaction of the fields of the Earth 
and sun trap and energizes ions and electrons in radiation belts. The 
dynamic changes of this region can have important effects on civil and 
military communications satellite systems.

The ITM and RBM are planned for launch in 2008 and 2010 respectively. 
The timing is such that the solar magnetic activity cycle, operating 
with an 11-year period, will be at or near a maximum during these 
missions. The program is designed to use information at the extreme of 
this cycle to lead to major advances in our understanding and ability 
to predict space weather.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. 
is responsible for implementation of the Geospace Project. 
Implementation includes the design and development of the two 
spacecraft.

LWS is part of the Sun-Earth Connection theme within the Office of 
Space Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA's Goddard Space 
Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. manages the LWS program.

More information about the LWS program is available on the Internet 
at:

http://lws.gsfc.nasa.gov/lws.htm

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