A small mission concept to the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L5 point for innovative solar, heliospheric and space weather science

Authors

Benoit Lavraud, Universite de Toulouse
Ying D. Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences
K. Segura, Université de Toulouse
J. He, Chinese Academy of Sciences
G. Qin, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Manuela Temmer, University of Graz
J. C. Vial, Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
M. Xiong, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jackie A. Davies, RAL Space
Alexis P. Rouillard, Université de Toulouse
R. Pinto, Université de Toulouse
F. Auchere, Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
R. A. Harrison, RAL Space
C. Eyles, RAL Space
W. Gan, Purple Mountain Observatory
P. Lamy, CNRS & Aix-Marseille Université
L. Xia, Shandong University
J. P. Eastwood, Imperial College London
L. Kong, Chinese Academy of Sciences
J. Wang, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber, Christian-Albrechts-University
S. Zhang, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Q. Zong, Peking University
M. Soucek, Institute of Atmos. Phys.
J. An, Chinese Academy of Sciences
L. Prech, Charles University
A. Zhang, Chinese Academy of Sciences
P. Rochus, Centre Spatial de Liège
V. Bothmer, University of Gottingen
M. Janvier, Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
M. Maksimovic, Observatoire de Paris
C. P. Escoubet, European Space Agency
E. K.J. Kilpua, European Space Agency
J. Tappin, RAL Space
R. Vainio, University of Turku
S. Poedts, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
M. W. Dunlop, RAL Space
N. Savani, University of Maryland
N. Gopalswamy, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
S. D. Bale, University of California, Berkeley
G. Li, University of Alabama
T. Howard, Southwest Research Institute
C. DeForest, Southwest Research Institute
D. Webb, Boston College
Noe Lugaz, University of New HampshireFollow
S. A. Fuselier, Southwest Research Institute
K. Dalmasse, National Center for Atmospheric Research
J. Tallineau, Qinetiq Space
D. Vranken, Qinetiq Space
J. G. Fernandez, GMV

Abstract

We present a concept for a small mission to the Sun–Earth Lagrangian L5 point for innovative solar, heliospheric and space weather science. The proposed INvestigation of Solar-Terrestrial Activity aNd Transients (INSTANT) mission is designed to identify how solar coronal magnetic fields drive eruptions, mass transport and particle acceleration that impact the Earth and the heliosphere. INSTANT is the first mission designed to (1) obtain measurements of coronal magnetic fields from space and (2) determine coronal mass ejection (CME) kinematics with unparalleled accuracy. Thanks to innovative instrumentation at a vantage point that provides the most suitable perspective view of the Sun–Earth system, INSTANT would uniquely track the whole chain of fundamental processes driving space weather at Earth. We present the science requirements, payload and mission profile that fulfill ambitious science objectives within small mission programmatic boundary conditions.

Publication Date

8-1-2016

Journal Title

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

Publisher

Elsevier

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2016.06.004

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

B. Lavraud, Y. Liu, K. Segura, J. He, G. Qin, M. Temmer, J.-C. Vial, M. Xiong, J.A. Davies, A.P. Rouillard, R. Pinto, F. Auchère, R.A. Harrison, C. Eyles, W. Gan, P. Lamy, L. Xia, J.P. Eastwood, L. Kong, J. Wang, R.F. Wimmer-Schweingruber, S. Zhang, Q. Zong, J. Soucek, J. An, L. Prech, A. Zhang, P. Rochus, V. Bothmer, M. Janvier, M. Maksimovic, C.P. Escoubet, E.K.J. Kilpua, J. Tappin, R. Vainio, S. Poedts, M.W. Dunlop, N. Savani, N. Gopalswamy, S.D. Bale, G. Li, T. Howard, C. DeForest, D. Webb, N. Lugaz, S.A. Fuselier, K. Dalmasse, J. Tallineau, D. Vranken, J.G. Fernández, A small mission concept to the Sun–Earth Lagrangian L5 point for innovative solar, heliospheric and space weather science, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Volume 146, 2016, Pages 171-185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2016.06.004.