Heliosphere Explorer missions and missions to other planets/moons will benefit from compact and stable magnetometers. Vector magnetometers are also used aboard high altitude balloons as a back-up to differential GPS for pointing telescopes and other scientific payloads. The small size and weight would be a good match for such platforms, and the absence of radio frequency emissions means the magnetometer will not interfere with the science package.
The instrument will be of use to the Navy for anti-submarine applications and the Army for detecting hidden tanks, reinforced bunkers, etc, as the large steel content of these targets generates a magnetic signature on top of the Earth�s field. The civilian market for magnetometers includes applications in oil and mineral exploration, mining, buried object detection, and the recovery of objects lost at sea.
More »