KiNET-X (Kinetic-scale eNErgy and momentum Transport eXperiment) is a payload of the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Sounding Rocket Program (SRP), consisting of a rocket-based injection of a barium cloud into the Earth's sunlit ionosphere. The mission is scheduled to launch in May 2021 from Wallops Island, Virginia. Data collection will be aided by airborne imaging onboard a Gulfstream III aircraft based out of NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). A key aspect of heliophysics is the energy and momentum coupling between spatially separate but magnetically linked plasma regimes. With known energy and momentum input, KiNET-X is designed to test the current understanding of kinetic-scale transport. In particular, this mission seeks to better understand the following: 1) How momentum transport is affected by ion kinetic-scale physics; 2) How electromagnetic energy is converted into plasma kinetic and thermal energy; 3) The interplay between fluid- and kinetic-scale processes.
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