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Performing orbital insertion around Mars using aerocapture instead of a propulsive orbit insertion manoeuvre allows to save resources and/or increase the payload mass fraction. Aerocapture has never been employed to date because of the high…
The numerous recent breakthroughs in machine learning (ML) make imperative to carefully ponder how the scientific community can benefit from a technology that, although not necessarily new, is today living its golden age. This Grand…
In the solar atmosphere, jets are prevalent and they are significant for the mass and energy transport. Here we conduct numerical simulations to investigate the mass and energy contributions of the recently observed high-speed jets to the…
In the next decade, there is an opportunity for very high return on investment of relatively small budgets by elevating the priority of smallsat funding in heliophysics. We've learned in the past decade that these missions perform…
The Sun is an active star that can have a direct impact on the Earth, its magnetosphere, and the technological infrastructure on which modern society depends. Among the phenomena that drive "space weather" are fast solar wind streams and…
We discuss the synergies between heliospheric and dust science, the open science questions, the technological endeavors and programmatic aspects that are important to maintain or develop in the decade to come. In particular, we illustrate…
The solar atmosphere is full of complicated transients manifesting the reconfiguration of solar magnetic field and plasma. Solar jets represent collimated, beam-like plasma ejections; they are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere and…
Astrophysical measurements away from the 1 AU orbit of Earth can enable several astrophysical science cases that are challenging or impossible to perform from Earthbound platforms, including: building a detailed understanding of the…
This paper addresses the fundamental science question: "How does solar wind energy flow through the Earth's magnetosphere, how is it converted and distributed?". We need to understand how the Sun creates the heliosphere, and how the planets…
A self-powered scheme is explored for achieving long-endurance operation, with the use of solar power and buoyancy lift. The end goal is the capability of infinite endurance while complying with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) dynamics…
Plasma experiments in laboratory settings offer unique opportunities to address fundamental aspects of the solar dynamo and magnetism in the solar atmosphere. We argue here that ground-based laboratory experiments have direct connections to…
The aim of this white paper is to briefly summarize some of the outstanding gaps in the observations and modeling of stellar flares, CMEs, and exoplanetary space weather, and to discuss how the theoretical and computational tools and…
NASA and ESA are preparing a series of human exploration missions using the four-person Orion crew vehicle, launched by NASA's Space Launch System, and a Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway (LOP-G) that enable long duration (>30 days)…
The Solar System Odyssey mission uses modern-day high-precision experimental techniques to test the laws of fundamental physics which determine dynamics in the solar system. It could lead to major discoveries by using demonstrated…
Rocket technology, originally developed for military applications, has provided a low-cost observing platform to carry critical and rapid-response scientific investigations for over 70 years. Even with the development of launch vehicles…
Selenium, the world's oldest photovoltaic material, has experienced a renaissance in research over the past decade, with certified solar cell efficiencies climbing from the historical record of 5% to breaking the 10% barrier. Its wide…
Determining the mechanisms responsible for the heating of the coronal plasma and maintaining and accelerating the solar wind are long standing goals in solar physics. There is a clear need to constrain the energy, mass and momentum flux…
The solar wind, a stream of charged particles originating from the Sun and transcending interplanetary space, poses risks to technology and astronauts. In this work, we develop a prediction model to forecast the solar wind speed at the…
As the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) fulfills its primary mission it is executing an unprecedented all-sky survey with the potential to discover distant planets in our own solar system, as well as hundreds of…
Propellantless propulsion refers to methods of space travel that do not require onboard propellant, instead relying on natural forces or external energy sources. In this paper, I review different approaches that have been explored and…