The plasma observatory (PO) is a proposal currently in phase a study as one of three missions being considered for ESA's 7TH mclass mission to be launched in 2037.this proposal is for the US to…

The plasma observatory (PO) is a proposal currently in phase a study as one of three missions being considered for ESA's 7TH mclass mission to be launched in 2037.this proposal is for the US to provide a significant contribution to the ION mass spectrometer (IMS) on the plasma observatory mother spacecraft. This heliophysics mission will explore plasma processes in earth's near-earth space from an equatorial orbit in order to addresses the following science questions: (Q1) how particles are energised in space and (Q2) which processes dominate energy transport and drive coupling across regions of earth's magnetosphere. PO's orbit is selected to maximise time in the key science regions (KSR) the foreshock the BOW shock the magnetosheath the magnetopause the magnetail current sheet and the transition region between the magnetotail and the inner region dominated by the dipole magnetic field. The science questions being pursued by PO are aligned with the goals of NASA's SMD to understand the physical processes and sun- earth connections and to advance our capability to predict space weather at earth. The IMS consisting of 4 identical time of flight mass spectrometers satisfies measurement and performance requirements for the plasma observatory mission providing mass resolved ION distribution functions over the energy range 10EV/e - 30 KEV/e with 10% energy resolution and 11.25% angular resolution at 150 MS resolution for h+ 300 MS for he++ and 1S resolution for o+. As a critical component of the PO mission the development of the IMS sensor is critical to continue the plasma observatory development. UNH will provide the time-of-flight sections the micro channel plate detector assembly and the steady high voltages power supplies leveraging their experience providing these subsystems for many previous missions. This proposal seeks for funding for the US IMS team to participate in that 2-year phase a study with our european partners.