Magnetospheric Venus Space Explorers (MVSE) mission: A proposal for understanding the dynamics of induced magnetospheres
Résumé
Induced magnetospheres form around planetary bodies with atmospheres through the interaction
of the solar wind with their ionosphere. Induced magnetospheres are highly dependent on the so-
lar wind conditions and have only been studied with single spacecraft missions in the past. This
gap in knowledge could be addressed by a multi-spacecraft plasma mission, optimized for study-
ing global spatial and temporal variations in the magnetospheric system around Venus, which
hosts the most prominent example of an induced magnetosphere in our solar system. The MVSE
mission comprises four satellites, of which three are identical scientific spacecraft, carrying the
same suite of instruments probing different regions of the induced magnetosphere and the solar
wind simultaneously. The fourth spacecraft is the transfer vehicle which acts as a relay satellite
for communications at Venus. In this way, changes in the solar wind conditions and extreme
solar events can be observed, and their effects can be quantified as they propagate through the
Venusian induced magnetosphere. Additionally, energy transfer in the Venusian induced mag-
netosphere can be investigated. The scientific payload includes instrumentation to measure the
magnetic field, electric field, and ion-electron velocity distributions. This study presents the
scientific motivation for the mission as well as requirements and the resulting mission design.
Concretely, a mission timeline along with a complete spacecraft design, including mass, power,
communication, propulsion and thermal budgets are given. This mission was initially conceived
at the Alpbach Summer School 2022 and refined during a week-long study at ESA’s Concurrent
Design Facility in Redu, Belgium
Domaines
Planète et Univers [physics]| Origine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
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