The Sun to the Earth – and Beyond A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics: Executive Summary (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-21
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it During the 1 990s, space physicists peered inside the Sun with Doppler maying techniques to obtain the first glimpses of mechanisms responsible for the solar magnetic dynamo. Further, they imaged the solar atmosphere from visible to x-ray wavelengths to expose dramatically the complex interaction between the ionized gas and the magnetic field, which drives both the solar wind and energetic solar events such as flares and coronal mass ejections that strongly affect Earth.
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Why is the solar corona several hundred times hotter than its underlying visible surface, and how is the supersonic solar wind produced? · Challenge 2: Understanding heliospheric structure, the distribution of magnetic fields and matter throughout the solar system, and the interaction of the solar atmosphere with the local interstellar medium.
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The recommendations presented in the main report are listed also in this Executive Summary. i' AN INTEGRATED RESEARCH STRATEGY FOR SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS The integrated research strategy proposed by the Solar and Space Physcs Survey Committee is based on recommendations from four technical study panels regarding research initiatives in the following subject areas: solar and heliospheric physics, solar wind-magnetosphere interactions, atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions, and theory, computation, and data exploration.
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program, a Solar Probe mission, and gave it high priority for implementation in the decade 2003-2013. The programs in the vitality category are those that relate to the infrastructure for solar and space physics research; they are regarded by the committee as essential for the health and vigor of the field.
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, these missions constitute a synergistic approach to the study of the inner heliosphere that will involve coordinated observations of the solar interior and atmosphere and the formation, release, evolution, and propagation of coronal mass ejections toward Earth. Later in the decade covered by the survey, overlapping investigations by the SDO, the ATST, and Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)
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Sounding rockets, balloons, and aircraft to perform targeted studies of solar and space physics phenomena with advanced instrumentation. Fifty to a hundred nanosatellites to create dynamic images of magnetic fields and charged particles in the near magnetic tail of Earth.
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NASA programs to provide long-term support to criticalmass groups involved in specific areas of basic and targeted basic research. Multiagency program to provide a systems-oriented approach to theory, modeling, and simulation that will ultimately provide continuous models from the solar interior to the outer heliosphere.
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To understand the genesis of the heliospheric system, it is necessary to determine the mechanisms by which the solar corona is heated and the solar wind is accelerated and to understand how the solar wind evolves in the innermost heliosphere. These objectives will be addressed by a Solar Probe mission.
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151 jpm [:1 gec Ill~lgs network ·mms C:1 sdo 1B stereo l~lsolar b · Iws res.ltech (Iws r/t) [:3 explorers 121 suborbital ~ mo&da HI trot FIGURE ES.2 Recommended phasing of the highest-priority NASA missions if budget augmentation for Solar Probe is not obtained.
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Traveling to the planets andbeyond. New propulsion technologies are needed to rapidly propel spacecraft to the outer fringes of the solar system and into the local interstellar medium.
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Advanced science instrumentation. Highly miniaturized sensors of charged and neutral particles and photons will be essential elements of instruments for new solar and space physics missions.
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A, . CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS AND OTHER DISCIPLINES The fully or partially ionized plasmas that are the central focus of solar and space physics are related on a fundamental level to laboratory plasma physics, which directly investigates basic plasma physical processes, and to astrophysics, a discipline that relies heavily on understanding the physics unique to the plasma state.
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Crucial components of the national space weather effort continue to be provided by the operational programs of the Department of Defense and NOAA. Moreover, in addition to governmental activities, a number of private companies have, over the last decade, become involved in developing and providing space weather products.
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Under the auspices of the NSWP, models that are thought to be potentially useful for space weather applications can be submitted to the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC, currently located at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) for testing and validation.
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All data acquired should contain error estimates, which are required by data assimilation models. Recommendation: A new, centralized database of extreme space weather conditions should be created that covers as many of the relevant space weather parameters as possible.
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If solar and space physics is to have a healthy presence in academia, additional faculty members will be needed to guide student research (both undergraduate and graduate) , to teach solar and space physics graduate programs, and to integrate topics in solar and space physics into basic physics and astronomy classes.
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Recommendation: NASA should undertake an independent outside review of its existing policies and approaches regarding the support of solar and space physics research in academic institutions, with the objective of enabling the nation's colleges and universities to be stronger contributors to this research field. Recommendation: NSF-funded national facilities for solar and space physics research should have resources allocated so that the facilities can be made widely available to outside users.
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Suborbital flight opportunities are very important for advancing many key aspects of future solar and space physics research objectives and for enabling the contributions that such opportunities make to education. Recommendation: NASA should revitalize the Suborbital Program to bring flight opportunities back to previous levels.
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Such an eventuality would leverage the resources contributed by each agency. Recommendation: The principal agencies involved in solar and space physics research NASA, NSF, NOAA, and DOD should devise and implement a management process that will ensure a high level of coordination in the field and that will disseminate the results of such a coordinated effort including data, research opportunities, and related matters widely and frequently to the research community.
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(See the Solar Probe discussion in the report of the Panel on the Sun and Heliospheric Physics, which is published in The Sun to the Earth and Beyond: Pane/ Reports, in preparation.) While accepting the panel's assessment of the critical importance of the in situ measurements for understanding coronal heating and solar wind acceleration, the committee does not wish to rule out the possibility that some additional remote-sensing capabilities, beyond the remote-sensing experiment to measure the polar photospheric magnetic field envisioned by the panel, can be accommodated on a Solar Probe within the cost cap set by the committee.
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These images are being used by NOAA's Space Environment Center and the broader community to monitor solar activity for its effects on Earth's upper atmosphere and the near-space environment.
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