Location
2417A Climate & Space Research Building
2455 Hayward Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2143
Phone
Primary Website
Related Links
Education
- Ph.D. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Science, University of Michigan
- M.S. Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
- B.S. Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Biography
Prof. Raines is a space plasma physicist interested in the solar wind and planetary magnetospheres, primarily of Mercury and Earth. His research centers around design and operation of space-based neutral and plasma mass spectrometers as well as analyzing the resulting data to understand the roles of ionic and elemental composition in these space environments. He has worked extensively on the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer, FIPS, which orbited Mercury on NASA’s MESSENGER mission, 2011-2015, and made the first measurements of plasma ions there. He helped develop the first comprehensive solar wind plasma composition dataset at L1 from the SWICS instrument on ACE and current leads that instrument team. He is a Co-Investigator and key team member of the Heavy Ion Sensor, part of the Solar Wind Analyzers (SWA) suite on ESA’s Solar Orbiter Mission. Prof. Raines’ newest focus is ESA’s BepiColombo mission, which will put two spacecraft into Mercury orbit in December 2026. He leads scientific operations for the Strofio neutral mass spectrometer instrument (PI: Stefano Livi) and is a Co-Investigator on the SERENA suite on the Mercury Planetary Orbiter. He also works very closely with the MSA instrument on the magnetospheric orbiter of Bepi, the Mio spacecraft from JAXA. He is author of over 140 publications.