In the last 30 years, many papers reported the almost simultaneous occurrence of magnetospheric fluctuations at different frequencies and latitudes (basically, in the range ${f}$ ≈ 1–5 mHz; ${T}$ ≈ 200–1000 s) and the possible existence and stability of sets of favorite frequencies (in particular: ${f}$ $_{1}\approx $ 1.3, ${f}$ $_{2}\approx $ 1.9, ${f}$ $_{3}\approx $ 2.6–2.7...
Ionospheric electric field monitoring has an important role in the understanding of the terrestrial environment and in the study of the various couplings with both the outer space and the ground level. The China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) mission consists of a constellation of spacecrafts equipped with several instruments able to provide a large set of information...
The Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument is a compact mass resolving negative ion and electron analyser flown on the Chinese Chang’E-6 mission to the Moon. NILS measures negative ions and electrons in the energy range of 3 eV/q to 3 keV/q with a mass resolution m $/\Delta $ m of about 2. The mass resolution is sufficient to separate charge-converted solar wind...
Single-wheel experiments and discrete element method simulations of a micro-rover wheel modelled on the Rashid-1 rover designed for the Emirates lunar mission. The interaction of the wheel with Toyoura sand and FJS-1 lunar regolith simulant is studied. Slip conditions, traction coefficient and grouser pitch for single-wheel experiments are measured for a range of fixed slip...
Launched in 2003, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express (MEX) has been orbiting Mars for 20 years and its instruments have performed continuous monitoring of the conditions in the Martian atmosphere, providing one of the most complete datasets of atmospheric parameters ever collected for Mars. This article provides an overview of the observations of the vertical structure of...
This article explores the different formation scenarios of the Kronian moons system in the context of a highly dissipative Saturn, with the objective of identifying the most likely of these scenarios. First, we review the diversity of objects – moons and rings – orbiting solar system giant planets, and the diversity of their architectures, which formation scenarios must reproduce...
The Rashid-1 rover, which was part of the Emirates Lunar Mission (ELM) program, was a small rover aimed to be operated for one lunar day on the lunar surface. As part of its scientific instrumentation, Rashid-1 carried a Langmuir probe experiment (LNG) in order to provide the first extensive, high-resolution in situ measurements of the bulk parameters of the lunar dayside thermal...
The Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, is in charge of a comprehensive geodetic mapping of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto on the basis of Laser range measurements. While multiple topographic profiles will be obtained for Europa and Callisto during flybys, GALA will provide a high-resolution global shape model of Ganymede while in...
The JANUS instrument (Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) aboard the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is a multispectral camera enabling imaging in the 380-1080 nm wavelength range. The performance and capability of JANUS fulfils all requirements for imaging the variety of different targets JUICE will investigate, including the icy satellites, Io, small inner and...
The Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) is one of the four instruments onboard the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) satellite, a collaborative science mission between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The UVI will capture the terrestrial auroral images that depict the energy depositions in the solar wind-magnetosphere...
Wave-optical effects in gravitational lensing have long been predicted, and with the discovery of populations of compact transients such as gravitational wave events and fast radio bursts, may soon be observed. We present an observer’s review of the relevant theory underlying wave-optical effects in gravitational lensing. Starting from the curved-spacetime scalar wave equation...
The Analyzers for Cusp Ions (ACIs) on the TRACERS mission measure ion velocity distribution functions in the magnetospheric cusp from two closely spaced spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The precipitating and upflowing ion measurements contribute to the overarching goal of the TRACERS mission and are key to all three science objectives of the mission. ACI is a toroidal top-hat...
NASA’s Lucy Student Pipeline and Competency Enabler (L’SPACE) is a novel student collaboration program designed and implemented for the NASA Lucy Mission. This technical STEM workforce development program has been designed to provide an authentic, team-based learning environment to support STEM majors as they prepare to enter the space exploration ecosystem. L’SPACE recruits and...
An overview is presented of our current understanding and open questions related to magnetic reconnection in solar flares and the near-sun (within around 20 $R_{s}$ ) solar wind. The solar-flare-related topics include the mechanisms that facilitate fast energy release and that control flare onset, electron energization, ion energization and abundance enhancement, electron and ion...
Ultra-low frequency waves, with periods between 1-1000 s, are ubiquitous in the near-Earth plasma environment and play an important role in magnetospheric dynamics and in the transfer of electromagnetic energy from the solar wind to the magnetosphere. A class of those waves, often referred to as Pc3 waves when they are recorded from the ground, with periods between 10 and 45 s...
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is a European Space Agency mission to explore Jupiter and its three icy Galilean moons: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Numerous JUICE investigations concern the magnetised space environments containing low-density populations of charged particles that surround each of these bodies. In the case of both Jupiter and Ganymede, the magnetic...
Solar photospheric abundances and CI-chondrite compositions are reviewed and updated to obtain representative solar system abundances of the elements and their isotopes. The new photospheric abundances obtained here lead to higher solar metallicity. Full 3D NLTE photospheric analyses are only available for 11 elements. A quality index for analyses is introduced. For several...
The Europa Clipper mission will explore Europa and investigate its habitability utilizing a set of five remote-sensing instruments that cover the electromagnetic spectrum from thermal infrared to ultraviolet wavelength, four in-situ fields and particles instruments, a dual-frequency radar, and a gravity and radio science investigation. Key mission objectives include to produce...
The Analyzer for Cusp Electrons (ACE) instruments on the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) mission provide measurements of electron velocity distribution functions from two closely spaced spacecraft in a low Earth orbit that passes through the magnetospheric cusp. The precipitating and upward-going electrons provide a sensitive probe...
Magnetic reconnection converts magnetic field energy into particle energy by breaking and reconnecting magnetic field lines. Magnetic reconnection is a kinetic process that generates a wide variety of kinetic waves via wave-particle interactions. Kinetic waves have been proposed to play an important role in magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas by, for example...
An International Space Science Institute (ISSI) workshop was convened to assess recent rapid advances in studies of magnetic reconnection made possible by the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission and to place them in context with concurrent advances in solar physics by the Parker Solar Probe, astrophysics, planetary science and laboratory plasma physics. The review papers...
This short article highlights unsolved problems of magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasma. Advanced in-situ plasma measurements and simulations have enabled scientists to gain a novel understanding of magnetic reconnection. Nevertheless, outstanding questions remain concerning the complex dynamics and structures in the diffusion region, cross-scale and regional couplings...
Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous plasma process that transforms magnetic energy into particle energy during eruptive events throughout the universe. Reconnection not only converts energy during solar flares and geomagnetic substorms that drive space weather near Earth, but it may also play critical roles in the high energy emissions from the magnetospheres of neutron stars...
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is the first focused exploration of an ocean world, with the main goal of assessing the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. After entering Jupiter orbit in 2030, the Flight System (spacecraft plus instrument payload) will collect science data while flying past Europa a planned 49 times at typical closest approach distances of 25–100 km. The...