The Newsletter - Volume 12, lssue 4
19 February 2016
Coverc events between
I
August and 31 October 2015
Contents
Awarded................
Mission Status and Developments......
""""""2
Giints and Contracts
""""""""'
3
""""""
6
lnvited
Media Broadcasts and
Features...............
...7
New staff
Departing statf
o
Following the successful defence of his thesis,
Dr AliVarsani left MSSL on 30 Oct to take up a
post-doctoral fellowship position in Graz,
Austria, working with data from the recently
launched NASA/Magnetospheric Multi-Scale
(MMS) Mission.
. Ruyman Azzollini - Euclid VIS Instrument
Scientist;
. Alistair Lawrensen - Laboratory Technician;
. Chris Wallis - Research Associate Astro Group;
. Benoit Pigneur - Tutor in Systems
Eng ineering/Project Management;
r Paul Janicki - Electronic Design Engineer - Pan
Cam:
. We welcome new students Roger Stabbins to
work on mineral identification and atmospheric
(University of Glasgow) also visited during
this period.
science with ExoMarsPanOam and Oliver Price
to the Planetary group; Allan Macneilljoined the
plasma group in Oct as a new PhD student,
working with Chris Owen and Robert Wicks on
work motivated by our involvement with Solar
The Space Plasma Group:
Dr Luke Barnard (University of Reading)
visited the Space Plasma Physics Group
on the 25 Aug to give his seminar entitled
"Solar Stormwatch CME Catalogue";
Prof Gerhard Haerendel (Max Planck
I nstitute for Extraterrestrial Ph ysics) visited
the Space Plasma Physics Group on the 22
Oct to give his seminar entitled "Current
sheet avalanche and substorm breakup";
SWA. In the first instance Allan is
working on analyses of coordinated
Orbiter
measurements of suprathermal electrons and
heavy ion data in the solar wind.
o The Astrophysics
.
Group welcomes new
research students Sam Emery (supervisor: Mat
Page); Samuel Gower (supervisor: Sylvia
Zane)', Luke Pratley (supervisor: Jason
McEwen) and Zoe Vallis (supervisor: Tom
Kitching);
The Solar Group welcomes Alex James
Hosted two summer students this year.
Gaelene Lerat (from the University of
Saskatchewan) was funded by a MAPS
Summer Studentship to work on the global
field-aligned current systems at substorm
(supervisor: Lucie Green) and Magnus Woods
.
(supervisor: Louise Harra);
The lmaging Group welcomes Kiky
onset. Colm Murphy (from UCL) was
funded by an RAS/Nuffield Bursary to study
relationship between magnetotail
Putri
(supervisor: Peter Mu ller).
the
dipolarizations and substorm onset. Both
worked closely with Jonny Rae and Colin
Forsyth during their stay and their work has
led to further studies and collaborations for
Promotions
.
.
Congratulations to Dr Jonny Rae, who has been
promoted to Reader of Space Plasma Physics,
the group.
from 1 Oct;
Congratulations to Dr Lucie Green who has been
promoted
to
Professor
of
PhYsics.
Prizes and Awards
o
Visitors
The Solar Group:
o
o
Mateo Inchaurrandieta spent two months in
July and Aug working with David
P6rez-Sudrez and David Long on adapting
EIS software to work with PYthon;
Laurence Hogan spent three months from
Sept until end of November with David
P6rez-Sudrez and David Long on relating
CMEs and global solar waves;
. Tetsu Anan visited on 23 Sept and gave a
semlnar,
o Antonia Savcheva
from the
Centre for
Harvard-Smithsonian
Astrophysics visited on 24125 Sept and
o
.
.
.
gave a seminar;
Marco Stangalini from the Observatory of
Rome visited from 28 Sept to 2 Oct and
gave a seminar;
Erika Palmeiro from the University of
Helsinki visited from 19/ 23 Oct and gave a
seminar;
lan Jones from Goonhilly Earth Station
visited on 12 Oct and gave a seminar;
Miho Janvier (lnstitut d'Astrophysique
Spatiale, Orsay) and Hugh Hudson
Jack Carlyle was awarded aProba2lSWAP
Guest I nvestigator grant.
Appointments
o Lidia van
Driel-Gesztelyi's term as
President of IAU Commission E came to an
end in Aug at the IAU General Assembly.
Grants and Contracts Awarded
David P6rez-Sudrez was awarded a
Software Sustainability Institute Fellowship
for 2016:
MSSL has won a major two year contract to
provide space systems engineering training
to the next generation of systems engineers
at the European Space Agency (ESA).
MSSL's Technology Management Group
will deliver the training at a venue close to
ESA's European Space Research and
Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the
Netherlands, with a team PrimarilY
consisting of Dr Michael Emes (Programme
Manager), lan Raper and Dr Doug Cowper.
We are excited to be able to continue our
relationship with ESA, following on from the
successful project management training
now in its second year. Winning this contract
is a testimony to the quality of the training we
offer, the strength of our staff in the subject
area, and recognition of the strong space
systems engineering heritage at MSSL. We
will be drawing on all our experience in both
teaching and space systems engineering,
together with experts from ESA, in order to
ensure that this development opportunity
works in supporting the delivery of ESA
agenda. The major part of the training will be
aimed at ESA statf who are technical
discipline engineers, space scientists and
newly- appointed system engineers. We will
also be delivering targeted training for space
systems engineers with several years of
experience looking for the latest trends and
techniques in systems engineering.
SMILE - The SMILE mission kick-off meeting took
place at MSSL on 3/4 Sept with just under 50
participants from ESA, CAS, UKSA, scientists and
engineers from
the
institutes interested
in
contributing hardware. The mission has been
studied in detail during several sessions at the ESA
Concurrent Design Facility at ESTeC during Oct,
and the conclusions are that the mission is feasible,
although lots of aspects need further study. We had
the first face-to-face Science Study Team meeting
at ESTeC on 23 Oct, and further Webex meetings
to discuss each instrument progres individually are
planned. Negotiations with the UKSA have been
ongoing, concerning financial support for the UK
contribution to the mission.
Solar Orbiter - The Solar Orbiter build program
continued apace, with little more than a year now
until delivery of the FM hardware is due. A Solar
Orbiter SWT was held in Florence, in conjunction
a joint Solar Orbiter/Solar Probe Plus
Proposals submitted
with
Robert Wicks, Colin Forsyth and Jonny Rae
submitted a bid to the NERC Innovation call, led by
Georgina Graham. Normal business continues to
workshop, which was attended by RobertWicks and
Mission Status and Developments
include regular teleconferences and meetings,
including a monthly Pl teleconference intended to
identify issues affecting the wider payload of
instruments and to keep pressure on ESA and
Airbus UK to address these. ln this regard, the SWA
team also held a requirements close out meeting
with ESA and Airbus in Stevenage on 3 Oct, in
Cassini - Science exploitation continuing.
for
the British Geological Society and in partnership with
Met Office, entitled "Development and
lmplementation of a Real-Time Substorm Warning".
the
Cluster - Cluster operations continue to go well.
Further automation of operations activities at ESOC
has been achieved and is successfully delivering
cost savings. Submissions were made to UKSA for
operations funding support after 2016. During this
period Cluster carried out magnetotail observations
and preparations were made for Guest Investigator
operations in the mid-altitude cusp on behalf of Yulia
Bogdanova (former member of the MSSL Space
Plasmas Group). The PEACE Operations Team
hosted Harri Laakso of the Cluster Science Archive
on 14 Sept to review progress.
Euclid - The EUCLID Consortium Meeting was at
the SwissTech Convention Center, Switzerland,
8/12 June.
ExoMars - Hardware work continued on the STM
and preparation for other models, in continued
collaboration with our Swiss and German hardware
colleagues. We hosted a PanCam science team
meeting at MSSL on 14115 Oct.
JUICE - Design work continuing.
Mars Express - Science exploitation continuing.
Roseffa - Science exploitation continuing.
which agreement was reached on the way forward
non-compliances
to SWA requirements.
Progress was discussed with UKSA at the project
management board meeting on 22 Sept, where we
also again discussed requirements for funding to
support the SWA operations team in the periods up
to and after launch. Finally, on 16 Oct, the MSSL
team called a 'crisis' teleconference with partners
and ESA in order to identify a way forward for the
SWA project in the light of a number of issues
impacting the schedule and adding risk to our ability
to deliver the FM
instrument when required. A
revised plan for assembly, integration and test of the
4 SWA flight units during 2016 was discussed and
agreed.
Publications
- Refereed
Published
Blanc, M., D.J. Andrews, A.J. Coates, D.C.
Hamilton, C. Jackman, X. Jia, A. Kotova, M.
Morooka, H.T. Smith, J.H. Westlake, Saturn
plasma sources and associated transport
processes, Space Science Reviews, 192, 237283, DOI 10.1007/s11214-015-0172-9, Sep
2015, and lSSl book on "Plasma Sources for
Solar System Magnetospheres" (Space Science
Series of lSSl), 2015.
Coates, A.J., A. Wellbrock, R.A. Frahm, J.D.
Winningham, A. Fedorov, S. Barabash, R.
Lundin, Distant ionospheric photoelectron
energy peak observations at Venus, Planetary
and
Space
http://dx.doi.org/1 0. 1 0 1 6/j. pss.20
113-114, 378-384, Aug 201 5
Science,
1
5. 02.
003,
Coates, A.J., J.L. Burch, R. Goldstein, H. Nilsson,
G. Stenberg Wieser, E. Behar and the RPC
team, lon pickup observed at comet 67P with the
Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) particle
SuperNEMO - The first fully populated C-section
(C0) was delivered to the underground laboratory at
Modane, France on 1 Oct. This is a major milestone
for the project and the culmination of several years
of work by the mechanical group and, in particular,
Tom Hunt, Craig Theobald, Martin Kemp and Paul
Gocher. A large part of the success of this project
has been due to their exemplary engineering skills
addressing and anticipating the potential
in
difficulties involved in building and handling a
Tracker Module of this size;: from the stringing of
almost 15,000, 40 micron diameter wires between
injection moulded cells, nearly 3m apart, to the
inches of clearance that were encountered at each
stage during the transportation of both the cells and
the completed C-section. Congratulations to the
team on an impressive accomplishment.
Thor - Work is ongoing to prepare for the M4
downselect competition in early 2017. lt was
decided to rename the MSSL-led instrument from
ESA to TEA (Turbulence Electron Analyser). The
second meeting of the THOR Science Study Team
was attended by Andrew Fazakerley on 10/1 1 Sept,
and the first meeting of the THOR EMC working
group was attended by Barry Hancock on 11 Sept.
The MSSL THOR team also supported several
sensors: similarities with previous observations
and AMPTE releases, and effects of increasing
activity, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 642 012005, Oct
2015.
Dartnell, L.R., T.A. Nordheim, M.R.
Patel,
J.P.Mason, A.J. Coates, G.H. Jones, Constraints
on a potential aerial biosphere on Venus:
Cosmic Rays, lcarus, 257,
l.
396405,
doi: 1 0. 1 01 6/j.icarus.201 5.05.006, Sep 201 5.
Hunt, G.J., S.W.H. Cowley, G. Provan, E.J. Bunce,
l.l. Alexeev, E.S. Belenkaya, V.V. Kalegaev,
M.K. Dougherty and A.J. Coates, Field-aligned
currents
Saturn's northern nightside
magnetosphere: Evidence for inter-hemispheric
current flow associated with planetary period
in
oscillations,
J.
Geophys. Res.,
in
press,
doi: 1 0. 1 002 12015JA021454, Sep 201 5.
Kalmoni, N. M. E., l. J. Rae, C. E. J. Watt, K. R.
Murphy, C. Forsyth, and C. J. Owen (2015),
Statistical characterization of the growth and
spatial scales of the substorm onset arc, J.
Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 120, 8503-8516,
doi: 1 0. 1 002 1201 5J4021 47 0.
Matthews, S. A., Harra, L. K., Zharkov, S., Green, L.
M., Spectroscopic Signatures Related to
a
Sunquake, 201 5, The Astrophysical Journal, 81
2, 35, doi:1 0.1 088/0004637X1812t1 t35
telecons. A UKSA award for funding to support
THOR activities at MSSL from Jul 201S-Mar 2016
was made in Oct.
Pariat, E., Valori, G., D6moulin, P., Dalmasse, K.,
Venus Express - Science exploitation continuing.
28,
Astrophysics,
580,
doi:1 0.1 051 /00046361 1201 52581 1
Pilkington, N.M., N. Achilleos, C.S. Arridge, P. Guio,
A. Masters, L.C. Ray, N. Sergis, M.F. Thomsen,
A.J. Coates and M. K. Dougherty, Asymmetries
Testing magnetic helicity conservation in a
solarlike active event, 201 5, Astronomy and
Al
o
Observed in Saturn's Magnetopause Geometry,
Res.
Geophys.
Lett.,doi:
10J00212015G1065477, Sep 201 5.
Pilkington, N.M., N. Achilleos, C.S. Arridge, P. Guio,
A. Masters, L.C. Ray, N. Sergis, M.F. Thomsen,
A.J. Coates and M.K. Dougherty, Internally
Jaumann N. Schmitz, J.-L. Josset, G.
Paar, M.Gunn, C.R. Cousins, and the
PanCam team "The PanCam
for the ESA-Roscosmos
instrument
2018 rover":
Driven Large-Scale Changes in the Size of
Saturn's Magnetosphere, J. Geophys. Res.,
o Coates, A.J., "Titan's
doi: 1 0. 1 002 12015JA021290, Sep 201 5
to comets";
an invited seminar at National
Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, on The ExoMars mission and the
PanCam instrument for the ExoMars 2018
rover, 7 Sept;
Presented
and
Gave an invited talk at an RAS meeting on
Weather on Other Planet Measurement and
Interpretation, 9 Oct;
Attended AOGS, Singapore 217 Aug and
presented two invited talks:
o Photoelectron driven escape at Mars,
Sagnieres, L.B.M., M. Galand, J. Cui, P.P. Lawas,
E.Vigren, V. Vuitton, R.V. Yelle, A. Wellbrock,
A.J. Coates, Influence of local ionization on
ionospheric densities in Titan's upper
atmosphere, J. Geophys, Res., 120,
doi: 1 0. 1 002 1201 4JA020890, Jul 201 5.
Tsang, S.M.E., A.J. Coates, G. H. Jones, R.A.
Frahm, J.D. Winningham, S. Barabash, R.
Lundin, A. Fedorov, lonospheric Photoelectrons
at Venus: Case Studies and First Observation in
the Tail, Planet. Space
1
5. 0 1 . 0
1.,
plasma
interaction: similarities and differences
Provan, G., C. Tao, S.W.H. Cowley, M.K. Dougherty
and A.J. Coates, Planetary period oscillations in
Saturn's magnetosphere: Examining a possible
relationship between abrupt changes in the
behaviour of the planetary period oscillations
solar wind-induced magnetospheric
compressions and expansions, J. Geophys.
Res., doi: 10j0022015JA021642, Oct 2015.
http://dx.doi.org/1 0. 1 0 1 6/j. pss.20
113-114, 385-394, Aug 201 5.
Welling, D.T., Andre M., Dandouras,
Coates, A.J., A.D. Gritfiths, C.E. Leff, R.
1
o
Sci.,
9,
Venus and Titan, and science goals for
PanCam on the 2018 ExoMars rover.
Waite, J.H., J. Westlake, Y.Dong, T.Hill,
A.Coates, B. Teolis, R. Johnson,
W.Tseng, M.Elrod, S.Bolton, Neutral
and ionized sources of material
in
Saturn's magnetosphere.
Delcourt, D.,
Fazakerley, A., Fontaine, D., Foster J., llie R.,
Kistler, L., Lee, J.H., Liemohn, M.W., Slavin,
J.A., Wang, C.-P., Wiltberger, M. and Yau, A.,
The Earth: Plasma Sources, Losses,
and
Transport Processes, Space Science Reviews,
192, 1 45-208, 20 1 5, 1 0. 1 007/s1 121 4-01 5-01 87 -
Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi
Gave an invited talk on coronal mass ejections
at a meeting "Ground-based observations in the
space instrumentation era" in Coimbra, Portugal,
Oct;
Gave an invited talk on the evolution of active
regions at the meeting "Multiwavelength studies
of the solar atmosphere" in loannina, Greece,
2.
In press
Coates, A.J., Plasma Measurements
at
Coupling in the Solar System, in press, Oct.
PhDs/MPhil Awarded
AliVarsani successfully defended his PhD thesis
entitled 'Microscale dynamics of the Earth's
magnetopause and its boundary layer - Cluster
observations' on 23 Oct, requiring only some minor
corrections.
lnvited Talks and Conferences
Andrew Coates
e Attended LDSE, 7-10 Sept, Beijing
presented two invited talks:
Sept.
Non-
Magnetic Solar System Bodies, AGU
monograph on Magnetosphere-lonosphere
and
Andrew Fazakerley and Zhonghua Yao
Attended the Cluster 1Sth/Double Star 1Oth
Anniversary workshop and 55th Cluster SWT in
Venice on the week 12l16 Oct. Papers were also
o
presented on behalf of Ali Varsani, Colin Forsyth
and Kirthika Mohan.
Lucie Green
Gave an invited talk on CMEs and flux ropes at
the IAU Symposium 320 "Solar and stellar flares
and their effects on planets";
Gave an invited lecture on solar physics
outreach at the STFC Advanced Summer
School in Solar Physics, at the University of
Leeds in Sept.
David Long
Gave an invited review on "Global waves in the
solar atmosphere" at the IAU GeneralAssembly
in Honolulu, Hl on 10 Aug;
Gave an invited lecture on "Observing the Sun"
at the STFC Advanced Summer School in Solar
Physics, at the University of Leeds in Sept.
Gave a technical lecture on MSSL's involvement
with the Solar Orbiter project to the Kent section
of the Institution of the lMechE on 30 Sept. The
lecture was held in the Officer's Mess of the
University of Greenwich and was well received
with 40 mech students and 30 localengineers in
attendance;
Gave the schoolassembly, with David Brockley,
at Alton Convent School, on the Solar Orbiter
project to the upper school of 11- to 18-year-old
girls of the school in Oct. Then Chris and David
had two Q&A sessions with years 5 and 6 in the
prep school about engineering and space. lt was
well received by the teachers and the children.
.
o
Louise Harra
.
o
Gave an invited talk on solar flares in Freiburg
Solarnet meeting, Sept;
Gave an invited talk on Solar-C/Solar Orbiter at
Hinode 9 Belfast, Sept.
Nadine Kalmoni
Gave a talk entitled "Are all substorm onset
arcs created equal?" at Unsolved Problems
in Magnetospheric Physics in Scarborough;
Gave an invited seminar at Goddard Space
Flight Center entitled "Auroral beads: the
auroral signature
magnetospheric
instability?"
.
.
of a
Andrew Coates
Introduction to MSSL
London International
Youth Science Forum (LIYSF)visit, 28 Jul;
Panelist at Guardian Live I New Horizons - Pluto
and beyond (also podcast) on ExoMars, Rosetta
and Pluto, 21 Sept, Amnesty International UK,
-
London, EC2A 3EA;
Article for The Conversation on From rockets to
space toilets: unique exhibition celebrates Soviet
cosmonauts
Article for the Conversation on Jupiter great red
spot 19 Oct;also used on CNN website 20 Oct.
Chris Owen
o
Presented a lecture on Magnetic Reconnection
to the STFC Advanced Summer School in Solar
System Physics, from 7-11 Sept.
Jonny Rae
.
Gave an invited seminar at Goddard Space
Flight Center entitled "Determining the substorm
onset instability using ground and space based
measurements".
Gherardo Valori
.
Gave an invited talk
Colin Forsyth
.
Lucie Green
on
Magnetic Field
.
Greece, Sept.
Dave Williams
Gave an invited review on "Small-scale waves in
.
the solar atmosphere" at AOGS, Singapore, on
Gave talks on Solar Orbiter and solar activity at
for the
Brighton branch
of the lMechE and the Science is Vital rally.
Solarsphere,
Extrapolations at the meeting "Multiwavelength
studies of the solar atmosphere" in loannina,
.
Gave a talk to the Sutton and Cheam Radio
Society entitled "The Sun and the sky: How
space weather atfects radio signals" in Oct.
Licia Ray
Gave a talk to the Croydon Astronomical Society
entitled "Auroras abound: comparing the
Northern Lights of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn" in
.
Sept.
7 Aug;
Gave an invited lecture at the STFC Summer
School in Atomic Physics, at Queen's University
Belfast in Sept, on "Space-based spectroscopic
facilities".
Deb Baker. Louise Harra. David Williams and Len
Culhane attended the Hinode 9 meeting in Queen's
University Belfast in Sept.
Media Broadcasts and Features
Andrew Coates
Naked Scientists
on Philae results mentioned
ExoMars and JUICE, 29 July (used BBC Radio
5 1 Aug, BBC East, 2 Aug ;
BBC News
on ESA and NASA space
programme mentioned ExoMars and JUICE,
appeared, 12 Aug
Sky News on Perseids meteors and Rosetta
perihelion (mentioned ExoMars), 13 Aug
Indian and international space programmes for
;
Outreach
Chris Brockley-Blatt
;
23
Arg;
on lunar eclipse, 28
Sept
Maclean's magazine (Canada),
.
o
o
o
.
r
mentionedExoMars, 19 Sept
BBC Surrey
;
(Breakfast and Drive);
Wired magazine Newsweek Sky News,
Hexjam Guardian BBC News on water on
Mars, included ExoMars , 27129 Sept
BBC News Guardian on life on
Mars,
appeared 2 Oct;
RCM&E(Radio Control Models & Electronics)
magazine on ExoMars, Autumn special issue,
appeared Oct;
BBC News on Pluto 15 Oct;
BBC World News TV on Cassini close
Enceladus flyby, 28 Oct.
Dave Williams
lnterviewed on Capital FM South Wales on 12
Oct, to talk about the discovery of flowing
subterranean liquid on Mars.
o
Other news
.
.
Jonny Rae visited NASA/GSFC for two weeks in
Aug to work with David Sibeck and Kyle Murphy
on substorm and radiation belt science;
Colin Forsyth and Jonny Rae visited BAS as part
of their collaborative NERC substorm science
.
project;
Nadine Kalmoni visited NASA GSFC for a month
during Aug to work with David Sibeck and Kyle
Murphy on substorm injections.
Social
o
A baby daughter, Cassidy Louise, arrived to join
the Owen family on 10 Aug . Chris, Lyanne and
Toby thank colleagues and friends at MSSL for
their best wishes, cards and presents.
Next lssue
The next issue of The Newsletter (Volume 13, lssue
1) will be published in May 2016. This will cover
activities from 1 Nov to 31 Jan 2016.