NASA has selected two science missions – the Multislit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm – to help advance our understanding of the Sun’s dynamics, the Sun-Earth connection, and the atmosphere. continuously changing time. These missions will provide deeper insights into our universe and provide vital information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals like GPS.
“MUSE and HelioSwarm will provide new and deeper insights into the solar atmosphere and space weather,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These missions not only expand the science of our other heliophysical missions — they provide a unique perspective and a new approach to understanding the mysteries of our star. .”
HUMMING
The MUSE mission will help scientists understand the forces that drive the heating of the Sun’s corona and the outermost eruptions that underlie space weather. The mission will provide further insight into the physics of the solar atmosphere by using a powerful instrument called a multiple-slit spectrometer to observe the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation and obtain images. Highest resolution photo ever taken solar conversion zone and aura.
The mission will also provide additional observations from heliophysical research such as UltraViolet Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Telescope and ground-based observatories.
“MUSE will help us fill important gaps in knowledge regarding the relationship between the Sun and Earth,” said Nicola Fox, Director of the Helicopter Division at NASA Headquarters. “It will provide more insight into space weather and complement a range of other missions in the birthday mission fleet.”
The main goal of the MUSE mission is to investigate the causes of heat and instability in the aftermath, such as flares and flares. volume of corolla ejectedand better understand the fundamental plasma properties of the halo. MUSE will obtain high-resolution images of the evolution of the solar bright bands in a field of view focused on a large active region on the Sun.
The MUSE mission principal investigator was Bart DePontieu of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (LMATC) of Palo Alto, California. This mission cost $192 million. LMATC will provide project management services.
HelioSwarm
The HelioSwarm mission is a constellation or “swarm” of nine spacecraft that will record the first multi-scale space measurements of fluctuations in the magnetic field and the motion of the solar wind known as wind turbulence. Sun. The Sun’s outermost atmosphere, the heliosphere, covers a huge region of the solar system. Solar winds propagate through the heliosphere, and their interactions with planetary magnetic spheres and disruptions such as coronal mass ejections affect their turbulence.
Studying solar wind disturbances over large areas requires plasma measurements taken simultaneously from different points in space. HelioSwarm consists of a central spacecraft and eight closely spaced small satellites, and a central spacecraft. The central spacecraft will maintain radio communication with each small satellite. All radio communications between the swarm and Earth will be through the central spacecraft and NASA Deep Space Network spacecraft communication antennas.
“The technical innovation of HelioSwarm’s small satellites working together as a constellation provides a unique ability to investigate turbulence and its evolution in the solar wind,” said Peg Luce, Associate Director Helicopters said.
The principal investigator of the HelioSwarm mission is Harlan Spence from the University of New Hampshire. The cost of the mission is 250 million dollars. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, will provide project management services.
Funding and management oversight for these missions were provided by the Helicopter Explorer Program, which is administered by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
For more information about the globe’s missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/sunearth
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