The Van Allen Probes Mission

Dr. Nicola J. Fox is Assistant Group Supervisor of the Space Physics Group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.  She is Project Scientist for NASA's Solar Probe Plus mission to be launched toward the Sun in 2018, and Deputy Project Scientist for NASA's Van Allen Probes mission, launched in August of 2012 and the subject of this volume. In the past she has been Operations Scientist for NASA Polar Mission, and as a part of that mission was an early implementer of cradle to grave, multiple asset analyses that have become central to understanding what is termed space weather.  Dr.  Fox has also long been and continues to be a sought-after interpreter of space weather issues as a part of NASA's Education and Public Outreach activities. Dr. James L. Burch is Vice President, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Space Science and Engineering Division. He was Principal Investigator for the NASA IMAGE global magnetospheric imaging mission and is now PI for the Instrument Suite Science Team of the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission (to be launched in 2014). Dr. Burch is a Fellow of the AGU and received the AGU Fleming Medal in recognition of his work in the field of space physics. He has served as editor-in-chief of Geophysical Research Letters and as President of the Space Physics and Aeronomy Section of the AGU.