Complex plasma coupling at Mars

Determine the complex plasma interactions governing the coupling among the solar wind, the Martian magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere, including the system’s temporal and spatial variability and its role in atmospheric energy deposition and loss.

Background

Mars lacks a substantial intrinsic global magnetic field, so the solar wind forms an induced magnetospheric boundary around the planet, while localized crustal magnetic fields produce strongly variable hybrid-magnetospheric interactions. These processes control how incoming solar-wind energy is dissipated and deposited in the Martian atmosphere, with consequences for atmospheric escape and auroral phenomena.

The paper states that these interactions remain largely unknown and motivates M-MATISSE as a dual-spacecraft mission. Henri will sample the Martian plasma environment while Marguerite measures upstream solar-wind or distant-tail conditions, enabling the correlation of external drivers with the Martian system’s magnetospheric, ionospheric, and thermospheric response.