The Contribution of Space Technologies to Arctic Policy Priorities

C.6.2 Planned Science Satellite Systems Radiation Belt Storm Probe (RBSP) Facts in Brief Country: USA

Operations: NASA with support from John Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory Status: Final stages of development, planned launch date August 2012 Duration: Prime mission of 2 years Orbit: Two identically equipped Sun-oriented, spinning spacecraft that will chase each other in their common orbits around the Earth. Key Science Areas: study the Sun’s influence on Earth and Near-Earth space by improving the understanding of the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time as well as their impact on creating space weather. Web link: http://rbsp.jhuapl.edu/ The RBSP mission is part of NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) program, designed to understand how and why the Sun varies, how planetary systems subsequently respond, and the resulting effect on human activities in space and on the ground. RBSP will contribute to the broader understanding of heliophysics phenomena that govern space weather at Earth. More specifically, RBSP will contribute to the understanding of the transfer of energy from the Sun to the Earth, and the interaction of solar plasma and radiation with Earth, the other planets and the galaxy. The probes will carry a number of instruments and instrument suites to support five experiments that will address the mission’s science objectives. Because it is vital that the two craft make identical measurements to observe changes in the radiation belts through both space and time, each probe will carry identical equipment that includes the following: (i) Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT); (ii) Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS; (iv) Electric Field and Waves Suite (EFW); (v) Radiation Belt Storm Probes Ion Composition Experiment (RBSPICE); (vi) Relativistic Proton Spectrometer (RPS). The immense clouds of material (called coronal mass ejections), that are periodically emitted during solar wind activities can cause large magnetic storms in the space environment around the planet. As the earth’s magnetic field is concentrated at the poles, high latitudes are particularly impacted by these space weather disturbances. The type of research that is being undertaken by the RBSP is a key to understanding and eventually predicting, hazardous events in the Earth’s radiation belts and magnetic fields. These disturbances that can subsequently impact both space-born and ground–based technologies (pipeline, communication, and power utilities) which are more vulnerable in the polar regions. Magnetic fields, radiation belts, particles, physics related to the transfer of energy Status: Under development, planned launch date 2014 Coverage: Global coverage Orbit: Four identically equipped spacecraft, which will fly in a tight, tetrahedral formation in Earth’s magnetic environment – the magnetosphere. Key Science Areas: Three-dimensional measurements of magnetospheric boundary regions and examination of the process of magnetic reconnection. Web link: http://science.nasa.gov/missions/mms/ MMS’s objective is to study the mysterious process that occurs when magnetic fields cross and reconnect, releasing magnetic energy in the form of heat and charged particle kinetic energy. The mission will give scientists unprecedented insights into a little-understood physical process at the heart of all space weather. This process, known as magnetic reconnection, sparks solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other phenomena that can imperil Earth-orbiting spacecraft and even power grids on terra firma. A fleet of four identical spacecraft will focus exclusively on the dynamic magnetic system that stretches from the sun to Earth and beyond. Crucial element of the MMS instrument suite include: the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI) which is 100 times faster than any previous similar instrument. The FPI will collect a full sky map of data at the rate of 30 times per second – a necessary speed given that MMS will only travel through the reconnection site for under a second. The increasing deployment of space systems highlights the need for a better understanding of space weather. A space weather phenomenon occurs when energetic particles thrown out from the sun interact with earth’s magnetic field producing magnetic disturbance and increased ionization in the ionosphere. The high energy particles have a variety of impacts on technology (more specifically, communication systems, pipelines, power grids, radio communication), both in space and on the ground. Since the earth’s magnetic field is concentrated at the poles, high latitudes are particularly impacted by these disturbances. The MMS mission will further our ability to monitor radiation belts and magnetic fields and subsequently, further our understanding of space weather systems and their impacts, particularly in the polar regions. Magnetic fields, radiation, particles, physics

Mission Objectives

System Capabilities

Measured Parameters

Relevance to Arctic Interests

Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) Facts in Brief Country: USA Operations: NASA

Mission Objectives

System Capabilities

Measured Parameters

Relevance to Arctic Interests

CONTRIBUTION OF SPACE TECHNOLOGIES TO ARCTIC POLICY PRIORITIES 100