Parker Solar Probe observations of the first Venus flyby

International audienceIn order for the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission to study the solar corona, it will fly closer to the sun than any spacecraft ever has by performing seven gravity assists at Venus. These gravity assists provide a rare opportunity to study the induced magnetosphere and solar-wind interaction at Venus using the plasma instrumentation aboard PSP. Venus's upper atmosphere hosts several atomic species such as hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, and argon, some of which are energized in the upper atmosphere to escape energies or ionized and carried away from the planet. What is special about Venus, as opposed to Mars, is that virtually all significant present-day atmospheric escape of heavy constituents is in the form of ions. Using the Fields experiment (FIELDS) and Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation (SWEAP), we will present plasma observations from the first PSP Venus gravity assist, including the first in-situ electric field observations to ever have been measured at Venus. We will also use the solar wind measurements as initial inputs into a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model and present a global picture of the induced Venusian magnetosphere and the subsequent ion precipitation, escape, and magnetic topology throughout the first flyby. Finally, we will compare the PSP Venus flyby during the deep minimum of solar cycle 24 to previous observations downtail with Venus Express and Pioneer Venus Orbiter