Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm missions of NASA

Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm missions of NASA

Question: Which of the following will be studied by the NASA’s recently seclected missions?
a) Mars and Jupiter
b) Venus and mercury
c) Asteroids and Comets
d) Sun and the Sun- Earth connected environment
Answer: (d)
Related Facts:-

  • On 10 February 2022 NASA stated that it has selected two science missions to study the Sun and the Sun- Earth connected environment.
  • These missions are the Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and HelioSwarm which help to improve our understanding 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.
  • Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE):
  • The MUSE mission will help scientists understand the forces driving the heating of the Sun’s corona.
  • It will record the eruptions in that outermost region of the Sun 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.
  • It will observe the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet radiation and obtain the highest resolution images ever captured of the solar transition region and the corona.
  • HelioSwarm:
  • The HelioSwarm mission is a constellation or swarm of nine spacecraft that will study the solar wind.
  • It will help to capture the first multiscale in-space measurements of fluctuations in the magnetic field and motions of the solar wind.
  • The Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer, the heliosphere, encompasses an enormous region of the solar system.
  • Solar winds spread through the heliosphere, and their interactions with planetary magnetospheres and disruptions such as coronal mass ejections affect their turbulence.

By – Rajesh Tripathi

Links:-
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/nasa-selects-two-missions-to-help-better-understand-earth-sun-environment-122021100149_1.html#:~:text=NASA%20has%20selected%20two%20science,on%20Thursday%20(local%20time).