ESA - Cluster - Archive

ESA title

The mission

Cluster is a constellation of four spacecraft investigating the interaction between the Sun and Earth’s magnetosphere in unparalleled detail. The magnetosphere is our shield against the charged gas that carries particles and magnetic fields outwards from the Sun.

Launch: 16 July and 9 August 2000
Observes: solar wind, magnetosphere
Orbit: elliptical around Earth’s poles, a few hundred to 125 000 km altitude
Spacecraft names: Rumba, Salsa, Samba and Tango

11 instruments
4 spacecraft
2 decades of operation

Cluster

4-satellite Cluster mission

Enabling & Support

Salsa’s last dance targets reentry over South Pacific

26/01/2024 3046 views 31 likes

Auroral beads

Science & Exploration

Magnetic vortices explain mysterious auroral beads

02/06/2022 2950 views 66 likes

Earth's protective shield

Swarm and Cluster get to the bottom of geomagnetic storms

15/12/2021 6666 views 116 likes

4-satellite Cluster mission

Science & Exploration

Cluster’s 20 years of studying Earth’s magnetosphere

07/08/2020 6509 views 66 likes

4-satellite Cluster mission

Science & Exploration

Windy with a chance of magnetic storms – space weather scie…

08/11/2018 3265 views 60 likes

4-satellite Cluster mission

Enabling & Support

Rejigging the Cluster quartet

16/01/2015 6217 views 77 likes

Science & Exploration

Origin of high-latitude auroras revealed

18/12/2014 15579 views 78 likes

Cluster II

Enabling & Support

ESA’s Cluster satellites in closest-ever ‘dance in space’

20/09/2013 8236 views 75 likes

Aurora over Norway

Science & Exploration

From solar activity to stunning aurora

15/04/2013 6702 views 35 likes

Tiny turbulent swirls in the solar wind

Science & Exploration

The solar wind is swirly

18/12/2012 15064 views 36 likes

Solar wind entry at low latitudes

Science & Exploration

Earth’s magnetosphere behaves like a sieve

24/10/2012 6135 views 20 likes

Propagation of a solar wind stream

Science & Exploration

Earth’s magnetic field provides vital protection

08/03/2012 72602 views 118 likes

Astrophysical shocks are a diverse collection

Science & Exploration

Cosmic particle accelerators get things going

16/11/2011 4670 views 3 likes

Cluster satellites study the effects of solar wind

Enabling & Support

'Dirty hack' restores Cluster mission from near loss

30/06/2011 4257 views 12 likes

Cluster path through aurora region

Science & Exploration

Cluster encounters a natural particle accelerator

01/02/2011 2913 views 3 likes

Science & Exploration

Contact for further information

01/02/2011 1409 views 0 likes

Ceremony for the International Academy of Astronautics Laurels 2010

Science & Exploration

Laurels for Cluster-Double Star teams

28/09/2010 2339 views 2 likes

Cluster pair in Soyuz on launch pad, Baikonur, 12 July 2000

Enabling & Support

Ten years flying in formation: The legendary Cluster quartet

01/09/2010 2213 views 3 likes

The Cluster quartet

Science & Exploration

Cluster turns the invisible into the visible

01/09/2010 1885 views 3 likes

The Sun-Earth connection

Enabling & Support

ESA’s pioneering Cluster mission is celebrating its 10th an…

25/08/2010 772 views 0 likes

The four Cluster spacecraft

Science & Exploration

Science objectives

16/07/2010 1212 views 2 likes

The four Cluster spacecraft

Cluster's decade of discovery

16/07/2010 2981 views 2 likes

Science & Exploration

Shocking recipe for making killer electrons

11/03/2010 2046 views 1 likes

Cluster II

Enabling & Support

Teamwork, skill enable quick Cluster recovery

19/02/2010 1414 views 2 likes

Looking at Jupiter to understand Earth

Science & Exploration

Cluster and Double Star: bringing the Sun-Earth connection …

18/06/2009 1458 views 1 likes

Mars Express

Science & Exploration

ESA extends missions studying Mars, Venus and Earth’s magne…

10/02/2009 2389 views 0 likes

Earth's oxygen escaping from Earth's polar regions

Science & Exploration

Cluster watches Earth’s leaky atmosphere

28/08/2008 3963 views 3 likes

Cluster II

Science & Exploration

Cluster listens to the sounds of Earth

27/06/2008 2673 views 3 likes

The Cluster quartet

Science & Exploration

Solitary waves in translation

07/03/2008 1665 views 2 likes

Cluster observing the electron diffusion region

Science & Exploration

New discovery on magnetic reconnection to impact future spa…

23/01/2008 2268 views 1 likes

Schematic of Earth’s night-side magnetosphere

Science & Exploration

High-speed beams of charged particles accelerate towards Ea…

06/12/2007 4206 views 6 likes

CME observed by SOHO

Science & Exploration

Solar outburst pulls a magnetic slingshot

21/11/2007 1663 views 1 likes

Artist's impression of the four Cluster spacecraft

Science & Exploration

Cluster monitors convection cells over the polar caps

22/10/2007 1516 views 0 likes

Cluster and other spacecraft

Science & Exploration

Cluster and Double Star uncover more on bright aurorae

10/09/2007 1210 views 0 likes

The Sun-Earth connection

Science & Exploration

Killer electrons in space are now less mysterious

26/07/2007 2177 views 0 likes

Cluster II

Science & Exploration

Pioneering 3D view of near-Earth magnetic 'dance'

29/06/2007 1479 views 0 likes

Cluster II

Science & Exploration

Cluster: ESA spacecraft flying closer than ever for better …

21/06/2007 1307 views 0 likes

Cluster II

Cluster achieves closest-ever separation for two ESA spacec…

20/06/2007 1476 views 0 likes

Bow shock around a star

Science & Exploration

Cluster makes a shocking discovery

14/05/2007 1795 views 0 likes

Aurora before and during a substorm

Science & Exploration

Cluster sees tsunamis in space

12/04/2007 1135 views 0 likes

Solar ‘magnetic carpet’

Science & Exploration

Magnetic fields get reconnected in turbulent plasma too, Cl…

27/03/2007 2057 views 1 likes

Magnetic reconnection observed by Cluster

Science & Exploration

Cluster opens a new window on ‘magnetic reconnection’ in th…

12/03/2007 1467 views 0 likes

Auroral arcs

Science & Exploration

Cluster – new insights into the electric circuits of polar …

09/02/2007 1913 views 1 likes

Cut-away view of Earth’s magnetosphere

Science & Exploration

Magnetic whirlpools feed Earth’s magnetosphere

06/12/2006 2853 views 1 likes

Cluster 2, Artist's view

Enabling & Support

Cluster muscles back from deep hibernation

06/10/2006 1162 views 2 likes

Cluster and Double Star orbits on 8 May 2004

Science & Exploration

Details of solar particles penetrating the Earth’s environm…

03/10/2006 3718 views 2 likes

Aurorae over Canada

Science & Exploration

ESA’s Cluster mission establishes why Earth’s aurorae shine

24/08/2006 1295 views 0 likes

Cluster encompassing a 'magnetic null' region

Science & Exploration

Cluster hits the magnetic bull’s-eye

18/07/2006 1753 views 0 likes

Earth's magnetosphere- an artist's impression

Science & Exploration

Cluster makes an effervescent discovery

20/06/2006 1459 views 2 likes

Sketch of the Earth magnetosphere

Science & Exploration

ESA’s Cluster flies through Earth’s electrical switch

19/05/2006 2489 views 0 likes

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