AS PART OF THE NASA INTERNATIONAL SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS (ISTP) PROGRAM THE GEOTAIL SPACECRAFT WAS LAUNCHED IN 1992 INTO AN EARTH ORBIT WITH APOGEES EXTENDING DEEP INTO EARTH S MAGNETIC TAIL REGION AND LATER IN A 9RE X 30RE FINAL ORBIT. THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY (JHU/APL) WAS CHOSEN BY NASA TO DEVELOP AND OPERATE THE ENERGETIC PARTICLE AND ION COMPOSITION (EPIC) INSTRUMENT (IN CONJUNCTION WITH CO-INVESTIGATORS AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF MARYLAND AND KANSAS) FOR THIS MISSION. BOTH THE SPACECRAFT AND EPIC INSTRUMENT HAVE BEEN FULLY OPERATIONAL AND RETURNING EARTH MAGNETIC TAIL REGION DATA SINCE LAUNCH IN 1992. THE EPIC DATA ON GEOTAIL HAVE MADE AND WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH TOPICS SUCH AS GEOMAGNETIC STORMS SUBSTORMS MAGNETIC RECONNECTION AND PARTICLE ACCELERATION. THE CONTINUATION IN PROCESSING EPIC DATA WILL COMPLEMENT EXISTING SPACE MISSIONS SUCH AS CLUSTER THEMIS RECENT SPACE MISSION VAN ALLEN PROBES AND MMS MISSION TO GAIN FURTHER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PLASMA DYNAMICS OCCURRING IN THE OUTER AND INNER MAGNETOSPHERE. THE GEOTAIL/EPIC DATA FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS WILL OFFER ANOTHER INVALUABLE MONITORING POINT IN SPACE THAT CAN IN SOME CASES CHANGE AN AMBIGUOUS RESULT WHEN GEOTAIL/EPIC OBSERVATIONS ARE NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT TO A CONCLUSIVE ONE WHEN THEY ARE. IN PARTICULAR EPIC S CAPABILITY OF IDENTIFYING THE ION SPECIES AND CHARGE STATE IS UNIQUE COMPLEMENTING MISSIONS THAT LACK THIS ABILITY (E.G. THEMIS). IN VIEW OF ITS VITAL ROLE IN COMPLEMENTING EXISTING AND FUTURE NASA MISSIONS WE PROPOSE THE CONTINUATION OF EPIC DATA PROCESSING FOR THE USE OF THE SPACE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. THE DATA PROCESSING SOFTWARE HAS BEEN WELL DEVELOPED FOR ITS CONTINUAL USAGE. THE REQUESTED FUNDING WILL ALSO ALLOW CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF INSTRUMENT OPERATIONS AND PROVIDING MATERIALS TO SUPPORT SENIOR REVIEW PREPARATIONS.