Diamond Experiment In the MagnetOSphere (DEIMOS): A Collisionless Shocks and Solar Wind Mission Concept for the Lunar Gateway.

In the scientific field of collisionless shocks, interplanetary space comprises a critical natural laboratory allowing the study of processes at spatial scales which are impossible to recreate in laboratories on Earth. Despite decades of research, key questions in the dynamics of collisionless shocks including energy transport and exchange remain unresolved due to instrumental limitations. With the return of humanity to the Moon and the upcoming construction of the Lunar Platform: Gateway (LOP‐G) space station, the possibility arises to study the pristine solar wind in unprecedented detail, with the space station potentially enabling significant power capacity and data rates which would be challenging to achieve on smaller unmanned spacecraft. The space station's location in a lunar halo orbit allows the study of the solar wind away from the contaminating influence of the terrestrial bow shock. Here we propose to utilize nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) diamond technology to combine magnetometer, temperature and plasma density measurements into a single instrument which can sample kHz‐range magnetic field with sensitivities on the order of <1e−5 nT, while also sounding the local plasma density and temperature. These capabilities will generate datasets which will contribute significantly to shock science, helping answer key outstanding questions in the field. Simultaneously, these observations will improve understanding of space weather dynamics, contribute to cross‐calibrating complementary missions, and probe the lunar exosphere. With the paucity of long‐term, high‐cadence, high‐sensitivity pristine solar wind datasets, the Diamond Experiment In the MagnetOSphere (DEIMOS) will fill a key need for the solar wind and collisionless shocks community. Plain Language Summary: Studying plasma in space allows us to observe some important effects which are too big to be reproduced in a laboratory on Earth. For this reason, studying the solar wind that is created by events such as solar flares, as it passes by our planet, can help our understanding of plasma physics, which in turn is valuable for controlled nuclear fusion and other plasma applications. In order to study the solar wind correctly, the spacecraft needs to be far away from the Earth so the solar wind plasma is not distorted by interaction with the Earth's magnetic field. The Moon is a perfect place, since it is far away from Earth but also large enough that a stable orbit around it can be established. Here we propose to deploy a new technology—a highly integrated nitrogen‐vacancy diamond magnetic field sensor—on the future Lunar Gateway space station, where it can collect large amounts of high‐resolution data to better understand solar wind turbulence. The sensor can also improve space weather model accuracy, support other space missions, and study the Moon's thin plasma atmosphere. Key Points: Nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) diamond magnetometers enable high cadence rates of magnetic field, temperature and densityOn Gateway, this will enable pristine solar wind studies of electron‐range plasma turbulence and non‐local shock‐related instabilitiesIt will also quantify space weather model accuracy, support other solar wind and magnetosphere missions, and probe lunar plasma [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]