A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
A small mission concept to the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L5 point for innovative solar, heliospheric and space weather science
Authors: Lavraud B, Liu Y, Segura K, He J, Qin G, Temmer M, Vial JC, Xiong M, Davies JA, Rouillard AP, Pinto R, Auchere F, Harrison RA, Eyles C, Gan W, Lamy P, Xia L, Eastwood JP, Kong L, Wang J, Wimmer-Schweingruber RF, Zhang S, Zong Q, Soucek J, An J, Prech L, Zhang A, Rochus P, Bothmer V, Janvier M, Maksimovic M, Escoubet CP, Kilpua EKJ, Tappin J, Vainio R, Poedts S, Dunlop MW, Savani N, Gopalswamy N, Bale SD, Li G, Howard T, DeForest C, Webb D, Lugaz N, Fuselier SA, Dalmasse K, Tallineau J, Vranken D, Fernandez JG
Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Publication year: 2016
Journal: Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
Journal name in source: JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC AND SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS
Journal acronym: J ATMOS SOL-TERR PHY
Volume: 146
First page : 171
Last page: 185
Number of pages: 15
ISSN: 1364-6826
eISSN: 1879-1824
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2016.06.004
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. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.