End of the beginning for Swarm trio

[Waspie_Dwarf]

End of the beginning for Swarm trio

23 November 2013 Reaching a significant milestone for ESA’s magnetic field mission, the Swarm satellites have completed the critical first phase of their new mission.

Over the weekend, ground controllers at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Germany shepherded the three satellites through multiple checks, ensuring that all systems were working as expected.

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[Waspie_Dwarf]

Swarm: a new constellation in the sky

Swarm is ESA’s first constellation of Earth observation satellites. The three identical satellites are designed to measure precisely the magnetic signals that stem from Earth’s core, mantle, crust and oceans, as well as its ionosphere and magnetosphere. Carrying a host of sophisticated instruments, the constellation is key to measuring and separating the different sources of magnetism and to making models in unprecedented detail and accuracy. The fact that Swarm is a constellation also means that, for the first time, mantle conductivity can be mapped in 3D from space. The satellites also offer a new way of studying the effect that solar particles have close to Earth.

Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab

Source: ESA - Space in Videos