CEDAR email: "Active Experiments in Space: Past, Present and Future" meeting in Santa Fe, NM, Sep 11-14 2017

[Delzanno, Gian Luca]

Active Experiments in Space: Past, Present and Future
Sep 11th -14th 2017, Santa Fe (NM)
http://www.cvent.com/events/active-experiments-in-space-past-present-and-future/event-summary-73675ac6ba5745d48d181933c4783454.aspx
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There is a rich history of space active experiments dating back to the 1960s. These experiments began early in the space age, where it became clear that the space environment was filled with plasma and could be rather harsh to astronauts and infrastructure. Active space experiments have had the triple goal of (1) probing basic plasma physics phenomena, (2) elucidating aspects of magnetospheric and ionospheric physics, and (3) understanding how to control the effects of the environment on space assets. Bombs, beams, heaters, releases, chemical dumps, plasma plumes, tethers, antennas, voltages are examples of active experiments spanning several decades of research. More recently, further interest towards active experiments in space has arisen, as called for in the 2012 Decadal Survey of the National Research Council, driven by important scientific applications such as magnetosphere/ionosphere coupling or radiation belt remediation.

This workshop aims at bringing together researchers interested in space-based active experiments, including experts from past and present missions, with a focus towards the future and on what fundamental scientific questions and applications could be tackled by new active experiments. The workshop seeks contributions on space-based active experiments conducted with waves and/or particles, targeting the following physics processes:
 -     Basic plasma physics;
 -     Wave-particle interactions;
 -     Coupling of plasmas and beams;
 -     Magnetosphere/ionosphere coupling.
Contributions on new technological developments that could enable future missions are also encouraged.

Specifically, the goals of the workshop are:
1.    Identify the lessons learned from past (and present) active experiments. A number of tutorial talks on those missions will be presented at the workshop.
2.    Assess the current state of space-based active experiments.
3.    Identify new opportunities and collaborations for future active experiments. What is the science that could be pursued? What are the applications? What are the gaps that need to be filled before these new ideas could be mature?
The workshop will comprise tutorial, invited and contributed talks as well as audience-participation discussion sessions.