BepiColumbo SIXS

Aberystwyth University funding for BepiColombo-SIXS Nov 2021 -Oct2024 Prof Manuel Grande, Aberystwyth University BepiColombo (referred to as Bepi) is Europe's first mission to Mercury and will not only reveal critical information about the planet and its surrounding magnetic environment, but it will also provide unique opportunities to study Venus, Earth and the solar wind during the cruise phase. Manuel Grande, Aberystwyth University, is CoPI (currently acting PI) on the SIXS instrument, as well as a CoPI on MIXS, Serena, and the Japanese MIO (https://sci.esa.int/web/bepicolombo/-/38831-instruments). We are applying for a renewal of our previous funding to continue to support the BepiColombo mission at a comparable level. SIXS, the Solar Intensity X-ray and particle Spectrometer on the BepiColombo mission to Mercury is led by PI Juhani Huovelin at the University of Helsinki. The main UK contribution was the provision of a single integrated circuit (produced at RAL) to digitise and relay the outputs of sensors on SIXS, resulting in an extremely compact and capable instrument. The UK also contributes science knowledge and experience with the X-ray spectrometers on ESA SMART-1 and ISRO Chandrayaan-1 to the Moon, for which Grande was PI. The SIXS instrument will work closely with the MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) instrument, led by Emma Bunce at the University of Leicester. In Finnish, MIXS/SIXS is a play on words, meaning approximately why/because. Our experience with Lunar X-ray spectroscopy made clear that to obtain accurate quantification of the surface of a planetary body using X-ray techniques, as will be provided by MIXS, , extremely accurate characterisation of the input solar flux is essential. In addition, the importance of precipitating energetic particles striking the surface of Mercury and producing Particle Induced X-ray Emission, make a particle characterisation essential. Both these key measurements are provided by SIXS. As well as being critical for the science of MIXS, the energetic particle and solar X-ray detectors on SIXS will provide a useful for space weather science in its own right. Although the position of Bepi clearly does not generally align with propagation to Earth, and there is a significant delay in download, these will be a key measurement in better understanding propagation effects from the Sun to Earth. We have obtained good data from the Earth flyby, as well as of the interplanetary transit of a CME, and these are providing material for significant science studies. Our next milestones are the second Venus flyby 11-08-2021, First Mercury flyby 1-10-2021, and Mercury orbit insertion 5-12-2025. Dr Rosie Johnson, who did her PhD at the University of Leicester on Jupiter's Ionosphere and Magnetosphere, has recently joined us as an Associate Lecturer. Dr Johnson provides an excellent link to the Leicester team, as well as strong data analysis skills, which are directly relevant to SIXS. She is working under the current grant to create a web site to manage cruise data, and we would like to continue to maintain this facility, as well as continue and expand current science investigations. We propose to fund her at the 12.5% level. Our SIXS involvement on the previous grant (which had a zero-cost extension due to recruitment and travel difficulties caused by Covid-19) has led to six publications in peer reviewed journals and a number of conference presentations. It has led to a full involvement in Bepi team meetings and SIXS science activities, significantly enhancing the UK profile on the mission.