Magnetic Field Measurements from a Solar Sail Platform with Space Weather Applications

Structure in the solar wind magnetic field can cause space weather (e.g. geomagnetic storms) at Earth. The magnetic field must be measured in situ and to improve warning times, monitoring platforms operating further upstream of the Earth than existing satellites are ultimately needed. This can be accomplished by solar sail missions, but any instrumentation must be extremely light-weight. Here we describe the development of a highly miniaturized magnetometer (MAGIC), which as part of the Sunjammer payload will conduct scientific studies of the solar wind magnetic field and its evolution to better understand the fundamental sources and causes of space weather.