NASA To Launch Two More Solar Missions – Free PDF Download

 
Question
Consider the following space missions.

1. Parker Probe
2. MUSE
3. HelioSwarm

Which of the above is/are solar missions of NASA?

1. a) 1 only
2. b) 1 & 3 only
3. c) 1 & 2 only
4. d) 1, 2 & 3

The News

The News

• NASA has selected two science missions –
  1. Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE)
  2. HelioSwarm
• to help improve our understanding of the dynamics of the Sun, the Sun-Earth connection, and the constantly changing space environment.
• These missions will provide deeper insights into our universe and offer critical information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals such as GPS.

MUSE

• The MUSE mission will help scientists understand the forces driving the heating of the Sun’s corona and the eruptions in that outermost region that are at the foundation of space weather.
• The mission will offer deeper insight into the physics of the solar atmosphere by using a powerful instrument known as a multi-slit spectrometer to observe the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet radiation and obtain the highest resolution images ever captured of the solar transition region and the corona.

MUSE

• MUSE mission will also provide complementary observations from heliophysics research such as the Extreme UltraViolet Spectroscopic Telescope and ground-based observatories.
• The primary goal of the MUSE mission is to investigate the causes of coronal heating and instability, such as flares and coronal mass ejections, and gain insight into the basic plasma properties of the corona.
• MUSE will obtain high-resolution images of the evolution of solar flare ribbons in a field of view focused on a large, active region on the Sun.
• The principal investigator for the MUSE mission is Bart DePontieu of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (LMATC) of Palo Alto, California. This mission has a budget of $192 million. LMATC will provide project management.

HelioSwarm

• Solar winds spread through the heliosphere (Sun’s outermost layer) and their interactions with planetary magnetospheres and disruptions such as coronal mass ejections affect their turbulence.
• The HelioSwarm mission is a constellation or “swarm” of 9 spacecraft that will capture the first multiscale in-space measurements of fluctuations in the magnetic field and motions of the solar wind known as solar wind turbulence.

HelioSwarm

• Studying solar wind turbulence across large areas requires plasma measurements taken simultaneously from different points in space.
• Hence, HelioSwarm consists of one hub spacecraft and 8 co-orbiting small satellites that range in distance from each other and the hub. The hub spacecraft will maintain radio contact with each small satellite. All radio contact between the swarm and Earth will be conducted through the hub spacecraft and the NASA Deep Space Network of spacecraft communication antennas.
• The HelioSwarm mission’s principal investigator is Harlan Spence from the University of New Hampshire. The mission’s budget is $250 million. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, will provide project management.

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