NASA Launches New Sun Missions To Improve Understanding of Earth-Sun Environment
Press Release
From: NASA HQ
Posted on Thursday, February 10, 20,22
NASA has chosen two science missions, Multi-slit Solar Explorer MUSE (MUSE), and HelioSwarm (HELIOSwarm), to improve our understanding of the Sun’s dynamics, the Sun-Earth link, and the constantly changing environment in space. These missions will provide deep insights into the universe and crucial information to protect satellites, astronauts, and communications signals, such as GPS.
MUSE and HelioSwarm will provide deeper insights into the solar atmosphere, space weather, and other phenomena, said Thomas Zurbuchen (associate administrator for science, NASA Headquarters in Washington). These missions will not only expand the science of other heliophysics missions, but also offer a unique perspective and novel approach to understanding the mysteries surrounding our star.
MUSE
The MUSE mission will allow scientists to better understand the mechanisms that drive the Suns corona’s heating and the eruptions that occur in the outermost regions that are responsible for space weather. The mission will provide greater insight into the physics behind the solar atmosphere. The mission will use a powerful instrument called a multislit spectrometer, which can observe the Suns extreme ultraviolet radiation. This will allow for the highest resolution images to be taken of the Sun.solar transition regionThe corona.
The mission will also provide complementary observations to heliophysics research such theExtreme UltraViolet Spectroscopic TelescopeGround-based observatories.
MUSE will fill critical gaps in our knowledge about the Sun-Earth link, said Nicola Fox (director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA headquarters). It will provide more information about space weather and compliment a host other missions in the heliophysics mission portfolio.
MUSE’s primary purpose is to investigate the causes and consequences of coronal heating, instability, and flares.Coronal mass ejectionsGet insight into the fundamental plasma properties of the corona. MUSE will provide high-resolution images of how solar flare ribbons evolve in a field of focus on a large active area on the Sun.
Bart DePontieu, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center LMATC of Palo Alto (California), is the principal investigator of the MUSE mission. The mission’s budget is $192 million. LMATC will manage the project.
HelioSwarm
The HelioSwarm mission is composed of nine spacecraft. It will capture the first in-space multiscale measurements in space of fluctuations in the magnet field and motions caused by the solar wind, also known as solar winds turbulence. The heliosphere, the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer is a vast area of the solar system. The heliosphere is home to solar winds that travel through it. Their interactions with the planet magnetospheres and disruptions like coronal mass ejections can affect their turbulence.
Plasma measurements must be taken simultaneously from several points in space to study the effects of solar wind on large areas. HelioSwarm is composed of one hub spacecraft, eight small satellites orbiting in co-orbit and are separated by the hub spacecraft. Each small satellite will remain in radio contact with its hub spacecraft. All radio contact between Earth and the swarm will be made via the hub spacecraft and NASA Deep Space Network communication antennas.
Peg Luce is deputy director of Heliophysics Division. “The technical innovation of HelioSwarms small, satellite-operated constellations provides the unique ability of investigating turbulence evolution in the sun’s solar wind.”
Harlan Spence, University of New Hampshire principal investigator for the HelioSwarm missions, is it. The mission budget is $250 Million. NASA’s Ames Research Center is responsible for project management.
These missions receive funding and oversight from the Heliophysics Explorers Program. This program is managed by NASA’s Explorers Program Office, Greenbelt, Maryland.
Visit: for more information about heliophysics mission
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