# Presentation: 302069

## Report on UK activities

**Chris Castelli**
**Science Programme Office**

**Sue Horne now has responsibility for the ESA Aurora Programme**

## Talk Overview

- _Missions in operation & under development_
-  EIS (Hinode/Solar-B), Heliospheric Imager (NASA Stereo) and Solar Dynamics Observatory SDO
- _Missions under study and new opportunities_
-  Solar Orbiter (ESA/NASA)
-  KuaFu (CNSA)
-  ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 – potential participation from UK
-  ASPIICS on Proba-3 (ESA) – status following phase A
-  NASA SMEX (AO Oct 2007) – potential UK involvement

## Research Council Up-date

- Creation of STFC on 1st April 2007 through merger of PPARC and CCLRC
- Motivation:
- 	Increase international competitiveness
- Enable world class research
- Deliver access to state-of-the-art facilities
- 	Increase economic impact
- Enable greater 2-way knowledge exchange – industry, universities, STFC’s labs
- Broad science base – Space science, particle physics, synchrotron radiation, nuclear physics, neutron sources etc.
- Comprehensive programmatic review started – looking at whole science and technology programme strategy and developing a robust future investment plan
- National Space Technology Programme

## The Harwell / RAL Campus

**The Harwell / RAL Campus**

## Management structure

- Council

- CEO

**Corporate Office**

**Director **
**International Relations**

**Knowledge Exchange**

**Science **
**Programme Office**

**Facility Operations**

**Finance Director**

**Administration**

- Commercialisation
- Campus Development
- Programmes
- Networks
- Economic Impact

**Science Strategy**
**Science Programme **
**Management **
**Programme & Project**
**Peer review **
**Education & Training**
**International Strategy**
**Representation & **
**Subscriptions (CERN,**
**ESO, ESA, ILL, ESRF,**
**Gemini, DIAMOND)**
**Grants**
**Project Oversight**
**Science & Society**

- Facilities (ISIS, SRS,
- ING, JAC, CLF)
- Technology (RAL, DL,
- ATC)
- Science Programme
- Support
- Project Management
- Support

- Finance
- Agreements/Contracts
- Legal
- Shareholder

- HR/Employee Relations
- Information Systems
- Information Management
- Health, Safety & Security
- Efficiency & Change
- Management
- Shared Services
- Premises

- Corporate Strategy
- Council Business
- Communications

## EIS on Hinode

-  Hinode (Solar-B) launched 22 Sept 2006
-  UK PI on the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) with significant contribution from NRL on optics

-  Principle aim of making spectroscopic observations over a wide range of temperatures for plasma velocity, motion and energy measurements

## EIS on Hinode

- Hinode Science Meeting – Announcing First Results
- Trinity College Dublin, Ireland 20-24th August 2007
- _[http://](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[msslxr](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[mssl](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[ucl](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[.ac.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[uk](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[:8080/](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[SolarB](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[/Announce.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)__[jsp](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/Announce.jsp)_

- Data policy – science community have access to data after first 6 months of observations as soon as processed by ISAS
- Full Hinode data available from 27 May 2007 (DARTS at Hinode Data Centre)
- UK EIS data activities – analysis tools available as part SolarSoft
- EIS search and data archive available online _[http://](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[msslxr](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[mssl](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[ucl](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[.ac.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[uk](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[:8080/](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[SolarB](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[/](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[SearchArchive](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[.](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)__[jsp](http://msslxr.mssl.ucl.ac.uk:8080/SolarB/SearchArchive.jsp)_

## Heliospheric Imagers for the Stereo

- NASA Stereo launched in October 2007
- UK provided the Heliospheric Imagers instrument - built by a consortium led by RAL and the University of Birmingham (UK), CSL (Belgium) + engineering input from Swales
- HI is designed to observe the space between the Sun and the Earth (12 to 300 Rs)  in order to watch for solar storms driven CMEs as they head our way.
- HI data is available via Stereo website and mirrored in UKSSDC (RAL)

## NASA Stereo

- Zoomed in movie showing the same comet later showing wiggles as it interacts with the solar wind

- Movie sequence taken on April 20 shows a CME hitting Comet Encke - the comet tail is whipped off and flies back away from the Sun. A new tails forms

## Venus/Mercury movies

**Venus/Mercury movies**

## Solar Dynamics Observatory

- RAL responsible for the CCD camera design & build
- 8 flight units delivered for AIA and HMI instruments to Lockheed Martin and Stanford
- New 4kx4k pixel CCD development with e2v (UK)
- 2 Mpixels/s Quad readout
- Requirements for high dynamic range, low noise, and low power

## KuaFu

-  UK sees collaboration with China as strategically important – MoU between CNSA & BNSC on framework of space science & technology cooperation
-  Excellent science & fills a role not currently covered by ESA’s programme, exploring the energy flow from the solar wind (at L1) to the magnetosphere and ionosphere
-  International coordination meeting, China (Jan 2007) - Mission not yet selected within the programme being developed by CNSA
-  Early funding for studies during pre-Phase A

**Novel x-ray focussing optics for the auroal imager instrument**

-  Part of comprehensive review to clarify science objectives and payloads and decision end 2007
-  UK involvement:	Auroral imager (Leicester Uni), medium and low energy plasma Instruments (MSSL, RAL), magnetometer (Imperial) and a MOSES type spectrographic imager (MSSL)

## Solar Orbiter

-  UK involvement in Solar Orbiter is high priority for community – STFC roadmap
-  Schedule leading to 2015 launch requires early release of instrument AO – depending on resolution of merger issues with NASA Sentinels
-  Reviewed potential UK involvement as part of an integrated package of instruments proposed to Solar Orbiter

-  UK funding design studies for an Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), Magnetometer, Electron Analyser System (Solar Wind Plasma Analyser) and *Spectrometer (EUS)?*
-  Early system trade studies, accommodation, interfaces, TRL assessment etc.
-  UK groups responded in the LoI submitted to ESA in September 2006
-  SPRT – full agency support for nationally provided payloads

## Solar Orbiter

-  Electron Analyser System (in-situ instruments)
- Part of the Solar Wind Plasma Analyser
- Prototype EAS system under test at MSSL thermal vacuum facility based on extensive heritage (e.g. Cluster, Cassini, Venus Express)

-  Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI)
- European consortium led by Royal Obs Belgium
- 4 EUV band telescopes sharing a common structure and electronics box (MSSL)
-  Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EUS)
- High resolution imaging spectrometer international consortium led by RAL
- Significant advance on Soho CDS, Solar-B EIS

## Proba-3 ASPIICS

-  ESA technology demonstration missions
-  4 counties involved – Sweden, Belgium, UK, Spain with launch ~ 2010/11
-  The PROBA-3 concept selected by ESA is a giant coronagraph – ASPIICS (led by P. Lamy (LAM, France)
-  1 of 4 concepts originally studied at pre-phase A by CNES looking at scientific missions utilising a formation flying demonstration – *define mission requirements*
-  With a formation flyer, a two-spacecraft coronagraph is possible – access to high resolution imaging

-  100 m spacecraft separation translates into <3 arcsec resolution down to ~ 1.1 Rs
-  A considerable advance (LASCO C2 resolution is  ~70” at 2.2 Rs)
-  UK industry (Astrium) completed Phase A study Jan 07

## ASPIICS aims at achieving conditions close to total eclipses

***ASPIICS aims at achieving conditions close to total eclipses***

**Ground based image obtained during a total eclipse**

**SOHO/LASCO-C2 coronagraph**

- Proba-3 ASPIICS

## ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-25

- COMPASS (Fineschi INAF, Italy) – Coronal Magnetism, Plasma Activity Studies from Space – UK groups RAL
- formation flying solar mission with a 100m s/c separation with off-limb and on disk instrument capability
- POLARIS (Appourchaux, F) – Polar Investigation of the Sun – UK groups RAL & MSSL
- Builds on Solar Orbiter mission concept
- Collaboration with NASA (science & technology roadmap identified in ILWS)
- Cross-scale (UK leading proposal) - 10 s/c utilising a common design in near-Earth space
- In collaboration with JAXA SCOPE mission providing 2 s/c
- WARP (Pulkkinen)  – Waves and Relativistic Particles (UK groups RAL, UoW, BAS)
- Plasma physics of Earth’s inner magnetosphere using constellation of 4 spacecraft
*Participation is subject to review by STFC advisory structure*

## CV2015 timeline

**CV2015 timeline**

## Conclusion

ILWS clearly very important to UK ground and space based ‘Heliophysics’ community
Envisage strong participation in future missions e.g. KuaFu, SO, bi-lateral opportunities (SMEX)
Planning participation in ESA CV1525 taking into account recommendations from SPRT
Programmatic review will shape UK science strategy for STFC

- ILWS clearly very important to UK ground and space based ‘Heliophysics’ community
- Envisage strong participation in future missions e.g. KuaFu, SO, bi-lateral opportunities (SMEX)
- Planning participation in ESA CV1525 taking into account recommendations from SPRT
- Programmatic review will shape UK science strategy for STFC