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

Abstract 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.