scholarly journals Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion: Tapping the energy of the solar wind for spacecraft propulsion

2000 ◽  
Vol 105 (A9) ◽  
pp. 21067-21077 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Winglee ◽  
J. Slough ◽  
T. Ziemba ◽  
A. Goodson
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Magnetospheric Plasma ◽  
Plasma Propulsion ◽  
Spacecraft Propulsion

scholarly journals Mercury's Solar Wind Interaction as Characterized by Magnetospheric Plasma Mantle Observations With MESSENGER

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (12) ◽  
pp. 12,153-12,169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie M. Jasinski ◽  
James A. Slavin ◽  
Jim M. Raines ◽  
Gina A. DiBraccio
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Magnetospheric Plasma ◽  
Solar Wind Interaction

scholarly journals The Key Role of Cold Ionospheric Ions As a Source of Hot Magnetospheric Plasma and As a Driver of the Dynamics of Substorms and Storms

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Chappell ◽  
A. Glocer ◽  
B. L. Giles ◽  
T. E. Moore ◽  
M. M. Huddleston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Magnetospheric Plasma ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Polar Wind ◽  
Polar Cusp ◽  
Reconnection Region ◽  
Mhd Modeling ◽  
Warm Plasma ◽  
Gain Access

The solar wind has been seen as the major source of hot magnetospheric plasma since the early 1960’s. More recent theoretical and observational studies have shown that the cold (few eV) polar wind and warmer polar cusp plasma that flow continuously upward from the ionosphere can be a very significant source of ions in the magnetosphere and can become accelerated to the energies characteristic of the plasma sheet, ring current, and warm plasma cloak. Previous studies have also shown the presence of solar wind ions in these magnetospheric regions. These studies are based principally on proxy measurements of the ratios of He++/H+ and the high charge states of O+/H+. The resultant admixture of ionospheric ions and solar wind ions that results has been difficult to quantify, since the dominant H+ ions originating in the ionosphere and solar wind are indistinguishable. The ionospheric ions are already inside the magnetosphere and are filling it from the inside out with direct access from the ionosphere to the center of the magnetotail. The solar wind ions on the other hand must gain access through the outer boundaries of the magnetosphere, filling the magnetosphere from the outside in. These solar wind particles must then diffuse or drift from the flanks of the magnetosphere to the near-midnight reconnection region of the tail which takes more time to reach (hours) than the continuously large outflowing ionospheric polar wind (10’s of min). In this paper we examine the magnetospheric filling using the trajectories of the different ion sources to unravel the intermixing process rather than trying to interpret only the proxy ratios. We compare the timing of the access of the ionospheric and solar wind sources and we use new merged ionosphere-magnetosphere multi-fluid MHD modeling to separate and compare the ionospheric and solar wind H+ source strengths. The rapid access of the initially cold polar wind and warm polar cusp ions flowing down-tail in the lobes into the mid-plane of the magnetotail, suggests that, coupled with a southward turning of the IMF Bz, these ions can play a key triggering role in the onset of substorms and subsequent large storms.

Earth’s plasma environment: magnetic reconnection and its effect on magnetospheric fields and flows

1994 ◽  
Vol 349 (1690) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Transport Process ◽  
Magnetospheric Plasma ◽  
Vortical Flow ◽  
Coupling Process ◽  
Plasma Environment ◽  
Field Environment ◽  
Present Understanding

Spacecraft observations of the Earth’s magnetosphere have revealed the presence of a complex spatially structured plasma and field environment, which undergoes significant variations on time-scales from minutes to years. Magnetospheric plasma originates in the solar wind and the ionosphere, and the principal transport process is a twin-vortical flow driven by coupling to the solar wind. We review present understanding of the coupling process and some consequences which follow.

Optimal Missions with Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion

2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Mengali ◽  
Alessandro A. Quarta
Keyword(s):  
Magnetospheric Plasma ◽  
Plasma Propulsion
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