Solar System Missions Division

Solar Orbiter Next major Solar and Heliospheric mission ESA ILWS flagship

2015 - 2025

Now with theInner

HeliosphericSentinels

Solar System Missions Division

Global strategy - Goals

Out of Sun-Earth line/multi-point observations [3-D star, Earth-

directed ejecta]

High latitude [polar processes and dynamo, 3-D CMEs]

Close up/co-rotation [linking Sun and inner

heliosphere]

Ultra-high resolution/Earth Orbit

[fundamental processes]

Solar System Missions Division

Solar Orbiter firsts

• Explore the uncharted innermost regions of our solar system

• Study the Sun from close-up (~48 solar radii)

• Fly by the Sun tuned to its rotation and examine both the solar surface and the space above from a quasi-corotating vantage point

• Provide images of the Sun’s polar regions from heliographic latitudes in excess of 30°

Solar System Missions Division

4 Inner Heliospheric Spacecraft OrbitsJoint Solar Orbiter / Sentinels (“SOS”) Science and Technology Definition Team (JSTDT) installed by ESA and NASA evaluates synergistic science opportunities such a joint mission and define an updated joint mission definition. Obvious science opportunities are • the remote sensing capabilities of Solar Orbiter added to the in situ Sentinels and • a multi-spacecraft in-situ heliospheric connectivity to any such observations on the Sun added to the Solar orbiter mission• increased overall data return

JSTDT report expected by Nov. 2007

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Top level scientific goals• Solar Orbiter

– Determine the properties, dynamics and interactions of plasma, fields and particles in the near-Sun heliosphere

– Investigate the links between the solar surface, corona and inner heliosphere

– Explore, at all latitudes, the energetics, dynamics and fine-scale structure of the Sun’s magnetized atmosphere

– Probe the solar dynamo by observing the Sun’s high-latitude field, flows and seismic waves

• Sentinels– Understand and characterize the sources, acceleration and

transport of Solar Energetic Particles– Understand and characterize the origin, evolution and

interaction of CMEs, shocks and other Geoeffective structures

Combination of Remote Sensing + In-Situ science

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Joint science goals (not exhaustive)• Establish in space and time the complex links between the solar corona and inner heliosphere from multiple vantage points in and out of the ecliptic plane

• Probe the solar magnetic structures reaching out into the heliosphere, such as magnetic clouds, flux tubes, streamer tips and current sheets

• Trace the three-dimensional propagation of solar energetic particles and identify their sources through remote sensing

• Follow the evolution of near-Sun shocks and CMEs in three dimensions

• Measure multi-point correlation functions of large-scale turbulence

• Reveal three-dimensional solar wind structures and their boundaries

• Identify the sources of the solar wind and relate them to the in-situ microstate

• Establish the possible magnetic connections between the high-latitude corona and in-ecliptic heliosphere (using particles as tracers)

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Solar Orbiter Reference PayloadIn-Situ Instrument

Solar Wind Plasma Analyzer (SWA)

Radio & Plasma Wave Analyzer (RPW)

Magnetometer (MAG)

Energetic Particle Detector (EPD)

Dust Particle Detector (DPD)

Neutron Gamma -ray Detector (NGD)

Remote Sensing Instrument

Visible Imager & Magnetograph (VIM)

EUV Spectrometer (EUS)

EUV Imager (EUI)

Coronagraph (COR)

Spectrometer Telescope Imaging X -rays (STIX)

Radio Plasma Wave – antenna assembly Visible Imager Magnetograph

Reference payload - examples

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IHS Reference Payload

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Solar Orbiter: Original• Minimum perihelion between 0.225-0.25 AU 0.225 AU• Maximum heliographic latitude > 25 degrees 34.2 deg

Sentinels:• One IHS below 0.3 AU >20% of time 30%• Perihelion no lower than 0.25 AU => 0.25 x 0.74 AU orbit• No IHS spacecraft at > 1 AU at any time• The 3 IHS spacecraft co-planar in their final orbit (< 1 degree)

Minimum Mission Requirements(joint launch)

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2015 launch

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Solar Orbiter/Solar Sentinels

• Elements

– Sentinels LWS future mission, ranked as high priority (third for moderate missions) by National Research Council in the 2003 Decadal Survey.\

– Solar Orbiter maintained in ESA Cosmic Vision, Strong support

• Program Future– Both Science and Technology Definition Team reports complete– Outgrowth of last Bi-lat: Is it possible to define a joint Solar Orbiter

(ESA) - Solar Sentinel Mission that provides scientific and programmatic advantages.?

– Joint Science and Technology Definition Team finding scientific goals and priorities for a combined investigation.

– 2 meetings in Paris and Washington, – September 2007 final meeting - report before November SPC