Frontiers in Physics (Apr 2020)
AME: A Cross-Scale Constellation of CubeSats to Explore Magnetic Reconnection in the Solar–Terrestrial Relation
- Lei Dai,
- Chi Wang,
- Zhiming Cai,
- Walter Gonzalez,
- Walter Gonzalez,
- Michael Hesse,
- Michael Hesse,
- Philippe Escoubet,
- Tai Phan,
- Vytenis Vasyliunas,
- Quanming Lu,
- Lei Li,
- Linggao Kong,
- Malcolm Dunlop,
- Malcolm Dunlop,
- Rumi Nakamura,
- Jianshen He,
- Huishan Fu,
- Meng Zhou,
- Shiyong Huang,
- Rongsheng Wang,
- Yuri Khotyaintsev,
- Daniel Graham,
- Alessandro Retino,
- Lev Zelenyi,
- Elena E. Grigorenko,
- Andrei Runov,
- Vassilis Angelopoulos,
- Larry Kepko,
- Kyoung-Joo Hwang,
- Yongcun Zhang
Affiliations
- Lei Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Chi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Zhiming Cai
- Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- Walter Gonzalez
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Walter Gonzalez
- National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
- Michael Hesse
- Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Michael Hesse
- Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
- Philippe Escoubet
- European Space Research and Technology Centre, European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, Netherlands
- Tai Phan
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Vytenis Vasyliunas
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
- Quanming Lu
- Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Lei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Linggao Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Malcolm Dunlop
- 0Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Didcot, United Kingdom
- Malcolm Dunlop
- 1School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Rumi Nakamura
- 2Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
- Jianshen He
- 3Beijing University, Beijing, China
- Huishan Fu
- 1School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Meng Zhou
- 4Institute of Space Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
- Shiyong Huang
- 5School of Electronic and Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
- Rongsheng Wang
- Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- Yuri Khotyaintsev
- 6Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
- Daniel Graham
- 6Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
- Alessandro Retino
- 7Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas (LPP), École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
- Lev Zelenyi
- 8Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Elena E. Grigorenko
- 8Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Andrei Runov
- 9Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Vassilis Angelopoulos
- 9Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Larry Kepko
- 0NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Kyoung-Joo Hwang
- Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
- Yongcun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2020.00089
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 8
Abstract
A major subset of solar–terrestrial relations, responsible, in particular, for the driver of space weather phenomena, is the interaction between the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind. As one of the most important modes of the solar–wind–magnetosphere interaction, magnetic reconnection regulates the energy transport and energy release in the solar–terrestrial relation. In situ measurements in the near-Earth space are crucial for understanding magnetic reconnection. Past and existing spacecraft constellation missions mainly focus on the measurement of reconnection on plasma kinetic-scales. Resolving the macro-scale and cross-scale aspects of magnetic reconnection is necessary for accurate assessment and predictions of its role in the context of space weather. Here, we propose the AME (self-Adaptive Magnetic reconnection Explorer) mission consisting of a cross-scale constellation of 12+ CubeSats and one mother satellite. Each CubeSat is equipped with instruments to measure magnetic fields and thermal plasma particles. With multiple CubeSats, the AME constellation is intended to make simultaneous measurements at multiple scales, capable of exploring cross-scale plasma processes ranging from kinetic scale to macro scale.
Keywords
- cross-scale
- constellation
- magnetic reconnection
- solar-terrestrial relation
- CubeSats
- mother satellite
