Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsh22a..04g&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SH22A-04
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
[7511] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Coronal Holes, [7513] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Coronal Mass Ejections, [7594] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Instruments And Techniques, [7924] Space Weather / Forecasting
Scientific paper
The wealth of knowledge accumulated on coronal mass ejections over the past decade primarily comes from the SOHO and STEREO missions. Unfortunately, these missions lacked some key measurements. For example, STEREO did not have a magnetograph and SOHO did not have an in-situ magnetometer. From the Sun-Earth line, SOHO was not well-suited for observing Earth-directed CMEs because of the occulting disk. STEREO's angle with the Sun-Earth line is changing constantly, so only a limited number of Earth-directed CMEs were observed in profile. The next generation Heliophysics mission should overcome these deficiencies and observe the Sun from a vantage point different from the Sun-Earth line. The Sun-Earth Lagrange point L5 is well suited for stationing such a mission. Such a mission would provide broad-side view of Earth directed CMEs and the shocks if the CMEs are fast enough. Additionally, corotating interaction regions (CIRs), which also cause adverse space weather, first arrive at L5 and a few days later at Earth, thus providing excellent prediction opportunity based on in-situ measurements at L5. Solar sources (active regions, coronal holes) of these large-scale disturbances can be observed more than a week before they rotate to Earth View. A suite of ten instruments (seven remote-sensing in X-ray, EUV, optical, and radio wavelengths and 3 in situ for plasma, magnetic field, and energetic particles) would constitute an ideal scientific payload. Recently an L5 mission concept known as the Earth-Affecting Solar Causes Observatory (EASCO) (Gopalswamy et al., 2011) was studied at the Mission Design Laboratory (MDL) of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The aim of the MDL study was to see how the scientific payload consisting of ten instruments can be accommodated in the spacecraft bus, what propulsion system can transfer the payload to the Sun-Earth L5, and what launch vehicles are appropriate. The study found that all the ten instruments can be readily accommodated and can be launched using an intermediate size vehicle such as Taurus II with enhanced faring. The study also found that a hybrid propulsion system consisting of an ion thruster (using ~55 kg of Xenon) and hydrazine (~10 kg) is adequate to position the spacecraft at L5. The transfer to L5 will take about 2 years and the science mission will last for 4 years around the next solar maximum in 2025. The mission can be readily extended for another solar cycle to get a solar-cycle worth of data on Earth-affecting CMEs and CIRs. This paper describes the EASCO mission, the scientific payload, and the results of the MDL study. Reference: Gopalswamy, N. et al., Earth-Affecting Solar Causes Observatory (EASCO): A potential International Living with a Star Mission from Sun-Earth L5, J. Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 73, 658, 2011
Easco Team
Gopalswamy Nat
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