Energy deposition in the upper atmosphere in the EXCEDE III experiment

McNutt, R. L.; Rieder, R.; Keneshea, T. J.; LePage, Andrew J.; Rappaport, S.; Paulsen, D. E.

doi:10.1016/0273-1177(95)00002-v

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Borovsky et al, 2020c, Sect. 4 Winckler et al, 1975;Winckler, 1992;O'Neil et al, 1978;Rapport et al, 1993;Prech et al, 1995Prech et al, , 2002Prech et al, , 2018McNutt et al, 1995;Raitt et al, 1995] are limited to about 50 keV in beam energy: for 1-kW of beam power they suffer from an unacceptably large beam divergence. Hence, a completely new space-based accelerator design is needed for MIO.…”

Section: The Magnetosphere-ionosphere Observatory Electron Acceleratormentioning

confidence: 99%

The magnetosphere-ionosphere observatory (MIO) mission concept

Borovsky

Bauer²,

Holloway³

2022

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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MIO (Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Observatory) is designed to definitively fix a cause-and-effect problem: In the nightside magnetosphere-ionosphere system we don’t know what is connected to what. The MIO mission concept is to operate a powerful 1-MeV electron accelerator on a main spacecraft in the equatorial nightside magnetosphere: the electron beam is directed into the atmospheric loss cone to deposit ionizing electrons in the atmosphere sufficient to optically illuminate the magnetic footpoint of the spacecraft while 4 nearby daughter spacecraft make equatorial magnetospheric measurements. A network of ground-based optical imagers across Alaska and Canada will locate the optical beamspot thereby unambiguously establishing the magnetic connection between equatorial magnetospheric measurements and ionospheric phenomena. Critical gradient measurements will be made to discern magnetospheric field-aligned-current generator mechanisms. This enables the magnetospheric drivers of various aurora, ionospheric phenomena, and field-aligned currents to be determined. In support of the Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2022 Decadal Survey, an experienced team of engineers and scientists at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have developed a NASA HMCS (Heliospheric Mission Concept Study) mission concept that can achieve the science objectives. The mission concept presented here is the result of trade studies that optimized the mission with regard to factors such as science objectives, concept study requirements, space environment, engineering constraints, and risk. This Methods paper presents an overview of the MIO concept.

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Section: The Magnetosphere-ionosphere Observatory Electron Acceleratormentioning

confidence: 99%

The magnetosphere-ionosphere observatory (MIO) mission concept

Borovsky

Bauer²,

Holloway³

2022

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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“…The accelerator technology for relativistic (∼MeV) vs. nonrelativistic (10's-of-keV) beams differs:10's-of-keV beams can be produced with direct-current electron guns that accelerate the electrons through a static potential drop whereas MeV beams must be produced with a radio-frequency electron accelerator that accelerates the electrons with a propagating wavefront. Direct-current electron guns with 10's of keV energies and 10's of kW powers have been flown in space numerous times (Winckler et al, 1975;O'Neil et al, 1978;Rappaport et al, 1993;Prech et al, 1995;McNutt et al, 1995;Prech et al, 2018), while a radio-frequency accelerator has only been flown once (a 1-MeV H − beam) (Pongratz, 2018). Designs for compact space-based relativistic-electron accelerators are underway (Lewellen et al, 2019) and spaceflight tests of the accelerator concepts are planned (Reeves et al, 2020).…”

Section: Relativistic Vs Nonrelativistic Electron Beamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Mission Concept to Determine the Magnetospheric Causes of Aurora

Borovsky

Delzanno

Henderson

2020

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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Insufficiently accurate magnetic-field-line mapping between the aurora and the equatorial magnetosphere prevents us from determining the cause of many types of aurora. An important example is the longstanding question of how the magnetosphere drives low-latitude (growth-phase) auroral arcs: a large number of diverse generator mechanisms have been hypothesized but equatorial magnetospheric measurements cannot be unambiguously connected to arcs in the ionosphere, preventing the community from identifying the correct generator mechanisms. Here a mission concept is described to solve the magnetic-connection problem. From an equatorial instrumented spacecraft, a powerful energetic-electron beam is fired into the atmospheric loss cone resulting in an optical beam spot in the upper atmosphere that can be optically imaged from the ground, putting the magnetic connection of the equatorial spacecraft’s measurements into the context of the aurora. Multiple technical challenges that must be overcome for this mission concept are discussed: these include spacecraft charging, beam dynamics, beam stability, detection of the beam spot in the presence of aurora, and the safety of nearby spacecraft.

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