Details of a Hybrid Model for the Interaction between the Solar Wind and Planets Implemented in FLASH

A hybrid plasma solver treats ions as particles and electrons as a fluid. We have implemented a parallel hybrid solver in the FLASH open source software framework. The solver has been applied to studies of the interaction between the solar wind and planets. Here we discuss the implementation of different model features, such as permanent magnetic fields, ionospheric chemistry, and exospheres. Mars is used as an example.