Conveners
P2 - Space Weather at the Moon, Mars, and Beyond: Recent Advancements, Observations, and Future Opportunities for Exploration: Talks
- Fabrice Cipriani
- Beatriz Sánchez-Cano
- Gina DiBraccio (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
With an ever increasing interest in robotic and human exploration of Mars, the observation and understanding of space weather at Mars is becoming an important topic. The ultimate goal, as at Earth, will be to have a reliable capabilty of forecasting potential hazardous impacts of space weather events. The Martian plasma system, however, is very different from that at Earth, mainly as a...
As we prepare for human missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), solar observations off the Sun-Earth line (SEL) at different vantage points become critical for accurate space weather predictions. These observations will help to improve our forecasting and understanding of the environment that these missions will encounter outside of the Earth’s protective magnetic field. The National Oceanic...
In December 2022, the solar wind virtually disappeared, its density decreased to values of the order of 0.1 cm-3, first at Earth (25/12/2022) and then at Mars (26/12/2022). The impact of this event was dramatic for the two planetary plasma environments. In this study we focus on the spectral and statistical analysis of magnetic field fluctuations recorded by MMS in the magnetosheath...
A Lunar Environment Analysis Package that could be deployed by crew or robotically (AstroLEAP) is being prepared as a potential European contribution to a landed missions (e.g., Artemis IV) [1-3]. AstroLEAP aims to provide in-situ measurements to help understand the complex interactions and dynamics of the ‘dusty’ lunar surface with solar radiation, space plasma, energetic particles,...
After a hiatus of nearly 50 years, there has been a resurgence of interest in
human exploration of the moon. Over the next few years, NASA and its partners will launch a series of lunar exploration missions with crewed missions beginning in ~2026. These plans for long-term sustained operations at the moon carry an inherently higher risk from space weather than previous endeavors. The intense...
Bernard Foing(1,2,3), Brigitte Schmieder(1,2,4,5), Michel Blanc(1,2,6), Stefaan Poedts(5,7), Tinatin Baratashvili(5), Mojtaba Raouf (2,3)
1COSPAR Panel on Exploration, 2LUNEX SpaceHub, 3Leiden University, 4Paris Observatory, 5KU Leuven, 6IRAP Toulouse, 7UMCS, Lublin
Following recommendations from COSPAR PEX Panel on Exploration (Ehrenfreund et al 2012, Blanc et al 2025), and Horizon 2061...
The COSPAR International Space Weather Action Teams (ISWAT) H4 Planetary Space Weather cluster is concerned with space weather at the planetary bodies other than Earth.With the current NASA’s emphasis on human exploration to Mars the H4 cluster’s focus will be more geared toward space weather at Mars for better scientific understanding of the environment at mars as well we for providing space...
Studying the Martian subsurface water-equivalent hydrogen (WEH) content is crucial for understanding the environmental conditions that prevailed on early Mars, addressing the question of whether life ever existed or still exists, and identifying potentially habitable environments for future colonization. The standard method for determining the water content involves measurements of neutron...
The Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office (M2M SWAO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center conducts real-time human-in-the-loop space weather analysis to support NASA missions throughout the solar system. With a strong emphasis on space weather impacts spanning 360 degrees, utilizing multi-viewpoint spacecraft is imperative to ensure complete and accurate analysis. Solar Orbiter’s (SolO)...
We present a 4-pi solar flare forecasting system developed under the NASA "Research-2-Operations" program. We incorporate far-side helioseismic results (mapping the solar seismic signals to magnetic flux concentrations and their characteristics) as input to surface flux transport maps to model the evolution of magnetic concentrations such as Active Regions in areas where data are not...
We propose the use of Jupiter’s sporadic decametric (DAM) emission as a natural radio beacon tool for advancing space weather diagnostics across planetary environments. Owing to its strong intensity and broad frequency coverage, Jovian DAM signals are highly sensitive to plasma conditions encountered along its propagation path, from Jupiter’s magnetosphere, through the interplanetary medium,...
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft carries a priviledged pauload composed of both Remote Sensing and In Situ instruments. Its orbit is as close to the Sun as 0.3 AU and it will incline the plane of its orbit up to around 30 degrees in the next years.
Due to its orbit trajectory around the Sun, there are periods of high latency when no science data is readily available. However, the mission has been...
The Moon during most part of its orbit around the Earth is directly exposed to the solar wind. Due to the absence of a substantial intrinsic magnetic field and of a collisional atmosphere, solar wind and solar energetic particles (SEPs) arrive almost without any deviation or absorption and impact directly on its surface, interacting with the lunar regolith and the tenuous lunar exosphere. The...
The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Rover Curiosity has been effectively serving as a space weather monitor on the surface of Mars since Curiosity landed on the red planet in 2012. RAD has measured the impact of more than a dozen solar storms, with the frequency of events increasing as the Sun approaches solar maximum. Two relatively large events (Sept. 10, 2017 and Oct. 28,...
Space Weather has traditionally explored the Sun’s immediate influence on the Earth system and its technology, including direct impact to humans. With the future of increased human and robotic missions to Mars, it is important to fill critical gaps and establish robust capabilities for predicting, monitoring, and mitigating space weather effects beyond Earth. The Mars Space Weather...
JUICE was launched in April 2023, and it is now in its cruise phase to Jupiter, where it will arrive in July 2031. JUICE carries a RADiation hard Electron Monitor (RADEM) to measure protons, electrons, and ions, detecting particles coming from the anti-Sun direction. On 2024 May 13, a large solar energetic particle (SEP) event took place in association with an eruption close to the western...
