University of Southern California USC Division of Astronautical Engineering The USC Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering USC
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Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS)


NASA’s Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS) mission will provide, for the first time, a new capability for stereoscopically imaging of the magnetosphere in fluxes of energetic neutral atoms. In addition, TWINS will probe the terrestrial exosphere by measuring ultraviolet glow of the hydrogen geocorona. The mission will operate for five years. Two TWINS instruments will perform simultaneous imaging of the magnetosphere from two spacecraft in two separate highly-elliptical orbits. The first instrument was successfully deployed in orbit in 2006. The second instrument will be launched in 2007.  Such stereoscopic imaging has never been done in the past, and scientists expect major discoveries from the TWINS mission.

Astronautics faculty Dr. Mike Gruntman is TWINS Co-Investigator and a member of the team that formulated and proposed the concept.

For more information go to:  http://nis-www.lanl.gov/nis-projects/twins/