Sunjammer is a NASA technology demonstration mission, focused on demonstrating the use of a solar sail for spacecraft propulsion and space weather monitoring.
Mission Summary
Sunjammer is a NASA Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) which is designed to demonstrate the use of a solar sail for spacecraft propulsion and manoeuvres. It is being built by L’Garde Inc. of Tustin, California. The mission is also intended to demonstrate the use of a solar sail as a platform for space weather monitoring. To this end, Imperial College London is providing MAGIC (MAGnetometer from imperial College), a vector magnetometer built around magnetoresistive sensors, which will be used to measure the magnetic field in the solar wind. Knowledge of this magnetic field is an essential component of a space weather monitoring capability. An additional instrument to measure the particle distribution in the solar wind is being provided by UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory.
Sunjammer
Sunjammer
- Launch Date: TBD
- Trajectory: Sunjammer will travel away from the Earth, into the solar wind, towards the Lagrange 1 (L1) point.
- Mission Duration: 1 year.
- Imperial College Involvement: MAGIC: 3-axis magnetoresistive sensor to measure the solar wind magnetic field.
- Imperial College Team Lead: Dr Jonathan Eastwood.
External Links
- An article in Popular Science describes some of the other aspects of Sunjammer
Imperial College Contact
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Jonathan Eastwood
The Blackett Laboratory
Imperial College London
SW7 2AZ
UK
Email: jonathan.eastwood@imperial.ac.uk