Dr. Mika Holmberg and DIAS Astronomy and Astrophysics have been granted funding of €90,000 from the Discovery programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The funding is awarded for the project Maximising the scientific outcome of planetary missions with ESA’s Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software. The project has been selected via the Open Science Innovation Platform (OSIP), which is ESA’s funding platform that provides grants to the most innovative and novel space activities.

The project will focus on improving the quality of spacecraft measurements. In particular, in-situ particle and field measurements that are a fundamental part of planetary exploration. Due to the high cost of planetary missions, the data can rarely be validated by comparisons with overlapping data sets from other missions. Instead, computer simulations provide an important way to both analyse and validate spacecraft measurements.

The Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software (SPIS) is commonly used to assess the risk of damaging electric discharges on ESA missions. With this research project Dr. Mika Holmberg will develop a new application of SPIS: an interplanetary and planetary plasma environment ’tool’ capability, to better understand the effects of environment perturbations and improve calibration and data analysis routines. To develop the method, she will use SPIS simulations of the first Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) measurements. The JUICE mission is ESA’s first large class mission to the outer Solar System and is planned for launch in April 2023.

On receiving the news of the successful funding application Dr. Mika Holmberg said: “This research project will be an important step in preparing JUICE to fulfil its scientific objectives, in particular to accurately characterise the plasma and field environments of Jupiter’s magnetosphere and to determine if Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is habitable.” The new analysis method developed within the project will also contribute to improvements of analyses of space plasma and field data, not only for the JUICE mission but for all future planetary missions carrying the relevant instrumentation.