Copublished by the IEEE CS and the AIP

Space-environment simulations, particularly those involving space plasma, present significant computational challenges. Global computational models based on magnetohydrodynamics equations are essential to understanding the solar system’s plasma phenomena, including the large-scale solar corona, the solar wind’s interaction with planetary magnetospheres, comets, and interstellar medium, and the initiation, structure, and evolution of solar eruptive events. Numerical simulation and modeling are increasingly essential to basic and applied space-physics research for two primary reasons. First, the heliosphere and magnetosphere are vast regions of space from which we have relatively few in situ measurements. Numerical simulations let us “stitch together ” observations from different regions and provide data-interpretation insight to help us understand this complex system’s global behavior. Second, models have evolved to where their physical content and numerical robustness, flexibility, and improving ease of use inspire researchers to apply them to intriguing scenarios with new measures of confidence