The NASA High-Energy Solar Physics Mission (HESP)

Details The NASA High-Energy Solar Physics Mission (HESP) The NASA High-Energy Solar Physics Mission (HESP)

Dec 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994aipc..294..230d&link_type=abstract

High energy solar phenomena-A new era of spacecraft measurements. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 294, pp. 230-243 (1994).

Physics

1

Particle Emission, Solar Wind, Chromosphere, Photosphere

Scientific paper

The NASA High Energy Solar Physics (HESP) mission offers the opportunity for major breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental energy release and particle acceleration processes at the core of the solar flare problem. HESP's primary strawman instrument, the High Energy Imaging Spectrometer (HEISPEC), will provide X-ray and gamma-ray imaging spectroscopy, i.e., high-resolution spectroscopy at each spatial point in the image. It has the following unique capabilities: (1) high-resolution (~keV) spectroscopy from 2 keV-20 MeV to resolve flare gamma-ray lines and sharp features in the continuum; (2) hard X-ray imaging with 2` angular resolution and tens of millisecond temporal resolution, commensurate with the travel times and stopping distances for the accelerated electrons; (3) gamma-ray imaging with 4-8` resolution with the capability of imaging in specific lines or continuum regions; (4) moderate resolution measurements of energetic (20 MeV to ~1 GeV) gamma-rays and neutrons.
Addtional strawman instruments include a Bragg crystal spectrometer for diagnostic information and a soft X-ray/XUV/UV imager to map the flare coronal magnetic field and plasma structure. The HESP mission also includes extensive ground-based observational and supporting theory programs. Recently, the HESP mission has been adapted to ``lightsats''-lighter, smaller, cheaper spacecraft that can be built faster-and the baseline plan now includes two Taurus-class and one Pegasus-class spacecraft. A launch by the end of the year 2000 is desirable to be in time for the next solar activity maximum.

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