Leicester experts involved in mission to fill gap in Solar System science
A leading Leicester researcher will give a free talk on an exciting new space mission which will use a cutting-edge x-ray telescope developed in the city.
SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) will launch next year to study Earth’s magnetic environment – its magnetosphere – to enable us to build a more complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection. It will improve our understanding of space weather and solar storms which is essential to protect space-based technology and humans in orbit around the Earth.
This is the first major collaborative science mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and will use a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) Instrument developed at Space Park Leicester by University of Leicester scientists and engineers.
A free talk, called SMILE! Understanding our dynamic magnetosphere, will be delivered by Dr Jennifer Carter who is a researcher and lecturer in the Planetary Sciences group at the University of Leicester’s School of Physics and Astronomy and is heavily involved in the SMILE preparations.
She said: “The SMILE mission will revolutionise our understanding of the large-scale magnetosphere.
“The science community recognises the need to provide a holistic view of the wider Earth-Sun system.
“This can best be achieved by considering the SMILE observations with data from other spacecraft or ground-based experimentation.
“In this talk we’ll discuss the main science goals and status of the mission and how we will radically alter our understanding of the ‘Link’ in the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere connection.”
The talk, which is part of the Space Park Conversations series of events, will take place from 2pm to 3pm on Tuesday, September 3.
To book a place, visit Space Park Leicester EventBrite.
Find out more about the University of Leicester.
Main Image: The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) at Space Park Leicester