Ariel [1] is the M4 mission of the ESA’s Cosmic Vision Program 2015-2025, whose aim is to characterize by lowresolution transit spectroscopy the atmospheres of over one thousand warm and hot exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. The operational orbit of the spacecraft is baselined as a large amplitude halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrangian point, as it offers the possibility of long uninterrupted observations in a fairly stable radiative and thermo-mechanical environment. A direct escape injection with a single passage through the Earth radiation belts and no eclipses is foreseen. The space environment around Earth and L2 presents significant design challenges to all spacecraft, including the effects of interactions with Sun radiation and charged particles owning to the surrounding plasma environment, potentially leading to dielectrics charging and unwanted electrostatic discharge (ESD) phenomena endangering the Payload operations and its data integrity. Here, we present some preliminary simulations and analyses about the Ariel Payload dielectrics and semiconductors charging along the transfer orbit from launch to L2 included.
ARIEL, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey mission1-3 was selected in early 2018 by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the fourth medium-class mission (M4) launch opportunity of the Cosmic Vision Program, with an expected launch in late 2028. It is the first mission dedicated to the analysis of the chemical composition and thermal structures of up to a thousand transiting exoplanets atmospheres, which will expand planetary science far beyond the limits of our current knowledge.
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