NASA has selected two science missions – the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm – to help improve the understanding of the dynamics of the Sun, the Sun-Earth connection, and the constantly changing space environment.
These missions will provide deeper insights into the universe and offer critical information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals such as GPS.
Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said: “MUSE and HelioSwarm will provide new and deeper insight into the solar atmosphere and space weather. These missions not only extend the science of our other heliophysics missions—but they also provide a unique perspective and a novel approach to understanding the mysteries of our star.”
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 an 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.
The mission will also provide complementary observations from heliophysics research such as the Extreme UltraViolet Spectroscopic Telescope and ground-based observatories.
Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, added: “MUSE will help us fill crucial gaps in knowledge pertaining to the Sun-Earth connection. It will provide more insight into space weather and complement a host of other missions within the heliophysics mission fleet.”
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 $192m.
The HelioSwarm mission is a constellation or “swarm” of nine 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 consists of one hub spacecraft and eight co-orbiting small satellites that range in distance from each other and the hub spacecraft. 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.
Peg Luce, deputy director of the Heliophysics Division, added: “The technical innovation of HelioSwarm’s small satellites operating together as a constellation provides the unique ability to investigate turbulence and its evolution in the solar wind.”
The HelioSwarm mission’s principal investigator is Harlan Spence from the University of New Hampshire. HelioSwarm will be managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and has a projected cost of $250m.
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