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Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
REPORT OF THE PANEL ON SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
237
information about the external boundary conditions in geospace. As noted before, MMS and RBSP science objectives are extended when pursued in combination with other ongoing magnetospheric missions
(Cluster, Geotail, THEMIS). Some will require strategic missions, while others can be acquired with smaller
platforms, including Explorers, CubeSats, and commercial satellites. In the next section the initiatives
necessary to accomplish the SWMI critical science goals are outlined.
9.5 PRIORITIZED IMPERATIVES
9.5.1 Introduction
The science goals described in Section 9.4 are ambitious, and their accomplishment will require intelligent use of the diverse research tools that are available:
Strategic missions. Strategic missions are the centerpiece of research in solar and space physics, requiring the largest budget and enabling researchers to address major portions of high-priority science that
are not accessible by other tools.
Explorers. In science per dollar, NASA’s Explorer program has been extremely successful. Small and
medium-class missions such as SAMPEX, IMAGE, TWINS, and THEMIS have significantly advanced
solar and space physics, and these missions have been productive beyond their prime mission, producing even more results than originally proposed.
Suborbital program. The suborbital program includes rocket and balloon investigations, which do
targeted science and can augment strategic missions, increasing total science return. For example, the
upcoming BARREL balloon experiment will enhance RBSP by providing measurements of relativistic
electron precipitation.
Small platforms. In the coming decade, even smaller platforms will continue to advance technology
and will also perform focused science investigations. Three magnetospheric missions are currently
under development as part of NSF’s new CubeSat program: CINEMA will image the ring current and
measure particle precipitation; the CSSWE experiment measures electron and ion precipitation using
a miniaturized RBSP REPT instrument; and the FIREBIRD mission will measure the spatial scale of
relativistic electron microbursts that are part of bursty radiation belt losses.
Hosted payloads and commercial alternatives. In recent years, there has been increasing awareness
of the potential to use alternative spacecraft and procurement methods to lower the cost and increase
the frequency of opportunity of solar and space physics missions. These include hosted payloads on
commercial satellites, the purchase of “commercial clone” spacecraft, and “data buy” (also called
service-level agreement), whereby partial mission costs are paid upfront and the data are bought back
after the spacecraft is successfully on orbit. Hosted payloads have already been successfully implemented. For example, the TWINS mission carries out stereo ENA imaging from hosted experiments
on non-NASA, U.S.-government spacecraft. Such hosted payloads have the potential for supporting
multipoint measurements at a significantly reduced cost, enabling the vision for an ever-more-capable
Heliophysics Systems Observatory.
Heliophysics Systems Observatory. As amply demonstrated by the sampling of scientific accomplishments from the past decade presented above, major progress toward the SWMI panel science goals
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
REPORT OF THE PANEL ON SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
237
information about the external boundary conditions in geospace. As noted before, MMS and RBSP science objectives are extended when pursued in combination with other ongoing magnetospheric missions
(Cluster, Geotail, THEMIS). Some will require strategic missions, while others can be acquired with smaller
platforms, including Explorers, CubeSats, and commercial satellites. In the next section the initiatives
necessary to accomplish the SWMI critical science goals are outlined.
9.5 PRIORITIZED IMPERATIVES
9.5.1 Introduction
The science goals described in Section 9.4 are ambitious, and their accomplishment will require intelligent use of the diverse research tools that are available:
Strategic missions. Strategic missions are the centerpiece of research in solar and space physics, requiring the largest budget and enabling researchers to address major portions of high-priority science that
are not accessible by other tools.
Explorers. In science per dollar, NASA’s Explorer program has been extremely successful. Small and
medium-class missions such as SAMPEX, IMAGE, TWINS, and THEMIS have significantly advanced
solar and space physics, and these missions have been productive beyond their prime mission, producing even more results than originally proposed.
Suborbital program. The suborbital program includes rocket and balloon investigations, which do
targeted science and can augment strategic missions, increasing total science return. For example, the
upcoming BARREL balloon experiment will enhance RBSP by providing measurements of relativistic
electron precipitation.
Small platforms. In the coming decade, even smaller platforms will continue to advance technology
and will also perform focused science investigations. Three magnetospheric missions are currently
under development as part of NSF’s new CubeSat program: CINEMA will image the ring current and
measure particle precipitation; the CSSWE experiment measures electron and ion precipitation using
a miniaturized RBSP REPT instrument; and the FIREBIRD mission will measure the spatial scale of
relativistic electron microbursts that are part of bursty radiation belt losses.
Hosted payloads and commercial alternatives. In recent years, there has been increasing awareness
of the potential to use alternative spacecraft and procurement methods to lower the cost and increase
the frequency of opportunity of solar and space physics missions. These include hosted payloads on
commercial satellites, the purchase of “commercial clone” spacecraft, and “data buy” (also called
service-level agreement), whereby partial mission costs are paid upfront and the data are bought back
after the spacecraft is successfully on orbit. Hosted payloads have already been successfully implemented. For example, the TWINS mission carries out stereo ENA imaging from hosted experiments
on non-NASA, U.S.-government spacecraft. Such hosted payloads have the potential for supporting
multipoint measurements at a significantly reduced cost, enabling the vision for an ever-more-capable
Heliophysics Systems Observatory.
Heliophysics Systems Observatory. As amply demonstrated by the sampling of scientific accomplishments from the past decade presented above, major progress toward the SWMI panel science goals