HelioSwarm
HelioSwarm is a NASA heliophysics mission that will launch a constellation of 9 spacecraft to investigate the fundamental properties of plasma turbulence. The HelioSwarm spacecraft will fly in formation through the solar wind – the cloud of charged particles that flow from the Sun. One central hub spacecraft will gather data from eight smaller node spacecraft, characterising collisionless plasma turbulence in 3 dimensions, on multiple scales, for the first time.
Each spacecraft will fly a magnetometer (a magnetic field instrument) designed and built at Imperial College London.
Facts
- Launch Readiness date: 2029
- Orbit: Lunar resonance orbit around Earth (approximately 60 by 11 Earth radii)
- Mission Duration: nominal 1 year
- Imperial College involvement: Lead, magnetometer instrument (MAG)
- MAG: Fluxgate sensor; electronics box and power supply developed in the Space
- Magnetometer Laboratory
- Science Lead: Prof. Tim Horbury, Imperial College London
- Instrument Manager: Helen O'Brien, Imperial College London
- Funding Agency: UKSA