Journal article
Comprehensive Observations of Magnetospheric Particle Acceleration, Sources, and Sinks (COMPASS): A Mission Concept to Explore the Extremes of Jupiter's Magnetosphere
Space science reviews, Vol.222(1), 15
2026
DOI: 10.1007/s11214-025-01249-4
PMID: 41613917
Abstract
Since the dawn of the space age in 1957, humanity has achieved the remarkable feat of exploring all the planets in our Solar System with robotic spacecraft. This glimpse into the diversity of space environments that make up our Solar System has revealed that no two planetary systems are identical; however, each planet harbors key clues in working toward a more unified and predictive understanding of the basic structure and dynamics of all planetary, and even exosolar, magnetospheres. A common feature found in all strongly magnetized planets are regions of trapped, high-energy charged particles called radiation belts. Dedicated missions studying the radiation belts encompassing Earth have led to major space physics discoveries over the past several decades, but Earth's magnetosphere exists in a relatively small swath of the parameter space found in our Solar System. To expand that parameter space, we present a mission concept that was reported in the recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Decadal Survey to expand the frontiers of Heliophysics in the 2024-2033 decade. The mission concept is called COMPASS, short for Comprehensive Observations of Magnetospheric Particle Acceleration, Sources, and Sinks. COMPASS is a mission dedicated to the exploration of Jupiter's radiation belts, with an unprecedented suite of instruments covering i) particle species from thermal plasma to 10 tens of MeV electrons and relativistic protons and heavy ions; ii) comprehensive magnetic and electric fields and waves; and iii) dedicated X-ray imaging. COMPASS will enable the scientific community to test existing hypotheses and make new discoveries of how Jupiter's radiation belts are sourced, accelerated, and lost within such a complex system.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Comprehensive Observations of Magnetospheric Particle Acceleration, Sources, and Sinks (COMPASS): A Mission Concept to Explore the Extremes of Jupiter's Magnetosphere
- Creators
- George Clark - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryP Kollmann - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryJ Kinnison - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryD Kelly - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryA Haapala - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryW Li - Boston UniversityA N Jaynes - University of IowaL Blum - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsR Marshall - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsD Turner - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryI Cohen - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryA Ukhorskiy - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryB H Mauk - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryE Roussos - Max Planck Institute for Solar System ResearchQ Nénon - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieA Drozdov - University of California, Los AngelesE Woodfield - British Antarctic SurveyW Dunn - University College LondonG Berland - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryR Kraft - Smithsonian Astrophysical ObservatoryP K G Williams - Smithsonian Astrophysical ObservatoryH T Smith - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryG Hospodarsky - University of IowaX Wu - University of GenevaJ Hulsman - University of GenevaT P O'Brien - The Aerospace CorporationM Looper - The Aerospace CorporationK Sorathia - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryA Sciola - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryA Sicard - Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueM Donegan - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryB Clare - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryD Emmell - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryJ Wirzburger - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryD Sepulveda - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryL Roufberg - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryJ Perry - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryJ Schellhase - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryD Pergosky - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryE Able - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryM O'Neill - Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD USAC Fernandes - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryD Chattopadhyay - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryS Bibelhauser - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryS Kijewski - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryJ Pulkowski - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryM Furrow - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryC Feldman - University of LeicesterJ Nichols - University of LeicesterN Carr - University of LeicesterH Verma - University of LeicesterS Lindsay - University of LeicesterE Bunce - University of LeicesterB Parry - University College LondonA Martindale - University of Leicester
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Space science reviews, Vol.222(1), 15
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11214-025-01249-4
- PMID
- 41613917
- ISSN
- 0038-6308
- eISSN
- 1572-9672
- Publisher
- Springer
- Grant note
- Heliophysics Mission Concept Studies (HMCS) from the NASA Heliophysics Division: 80NSSC22K0114
This work was funded by Heliophysics Mission Concept Studies (HMCS) grant 80NSSC22K0114 from the NASA Heliophysics Division.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2026
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy; University College Courses
- Record Identifier
- 9985132080202771
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