Observations of ion acoustic waves in the solar wind during the first and second orbit of the Ulysses spacecraft are presented. The observations show variations of the wave activity with the heliolatitude and with the phase
of the solar cycle. The interrelationships between the wave intensity and the electron heat flux and the ratio of electron
to proton temperature, Te/Tp, are examined.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
We describe the electric field sensors and electric and magnetic field signal processing on the FAST (Fast Auroral SnapshoT) satellite. The FAST satellite was designed to make high time resolution observations of particles and electromagnetic fields in the auroral zone to study small-scale plasma interactions in the auroral acceleration region. The DC and AC electric fields are measured with three-axis dipole antennas with 56 m, 8 m, and 5 m baselines. A three-axis flux-gate magnetometer measures the DC magnetic field and a three-axis search coil measures the AC magnetic field. A central signal processing system receives all signals from the electric and magnetic field sensors. Spectral coverage is from DC to 4 MHz. There are several types of processed data. Survey data are continuous over the auroral zone and have full-orbit coverage for fluxgate magnetometer data. Burst data include a few minutes of a selected region of the auroral zone at the highest time resolution. A subset of the burst data, high speed burst memory data, are waveform data at 2×106 sample s–1. Electric field and magnetic field data are primarily waveforms and power spectral density as a function of frequency and time. There are also various types of focused data processing, including cross-spectral analysis, fine-frequency plasma wave tracking, high-frequency polarity measurement, and wave-particle correlations. 相似文献
The STEREO/WAVES experiment is designed to measure the electric component of radio emission from interplanetary radio bursts and in situ plasma waves and fluctuations in the solar wind. Interplanetary radio bursts are generated from electron beams at interplanetary shocks and solar flares and are observed from near the Sun to 1 AU, corresponding to frequencies of approximately 16 MHz to 10 kHz. In situ plasma waves occur in a range of wavelengths larger than the Debye length in the solar wind plasma λD≈10 m and appear Doppler-shifted into the frequency regime down to a fraction of a Hertz. These phenomena are measured by STEREO/WAVES with a set of three orthogonal electric monopole antennas. This paper describes the electrical and mechanical design of the antenna system and discusses efforts to model the antenna pattern and response and methods for in-flight calibration. 相似文献
The Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) investigation provides the in situ solar wind and low energy heliospheric ion measurements for the NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Mission, which consists of two spacecraft (STEREO-A, STEREO-B). PLASTIC-A and PLASTIC-B are identical. Each PLASTIC is a time-of-flight/energy mass spectrometer designed to determine the elemental composition, ionic charge states, and bulk flow parameters of major solar wind ions in the mass range from hydrogen to iron. PLASTIC has nearly complete angular coverage in the ecliptic plane and an energy range from ~0.3 to 80 keV/e, from which the distribution functions of suprathermal ions, including those ions created in pick-up and local shock acceleration processes, are also provided. 相似文献
The New Horizons spacecraft will achieve a wide range of measurement objectives at the Pluto system, including color and panchromatic maps, 1.25–2.50 micron spectral images for studying surface compositions, and measurements of Pluto’s atmosphere (temperatures, composition, hazes, and the escape rate). Additional measurement objectives include topography, surface temperatures, and the solar wind interaction. The fulfillment of these measurement objectives will broaden our understanding of the Pluto system, such as the origin of the Pluto system, the processes operating on the surface, the volatile transport cycle, and the energetics and chemistry of the atmosphere. The mission, payload, and strawman observing sequences have been designed to achieve the NASA-specified measurement objectives and maximize the science return. The planned observations at the Pluto system will extend our knowledge of other objects formed by giant impact (such as the Earth–moon), other objects formed in the outer solar system (such as comets and other icy dwarf planets), other bodies with surfaces in vapor-pressure equilibrium (such as Triton and Mars), and other bodies with N2:CH4 atmospheres (such as Titan, Triton, and the early Earth). 相似文献
The Grain Impact Analyser and Dust Accumulator (GIADA) onboard the ROSETTA mission to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is devoted
to study the cometary dust environment. Thanks to the rendezvous configuration of the mission, GIADA will be plunged in the
dust environment of the coma and will be able to explore dust flux evolution and grain dynamic properties with position and
time. This will represent a unique opportunity to perform measurements on key parameters that no ground-based observation
or fly-by mission is able to obtain and that no tail or coma model elaborated so far has been able to properly simulate. The
coma and nucleus properties shall be, then, clarified with consequent improvement of models describing inner and outer coma
evolution, but also of models about nucleus emission during different phases of its evolution. GIADA shall be capable to measure
mass/size of single particles larger than about 15 μm together with momentum in the range 6.5 × 10−10 ÷ 4.0 × 10−4 kg m s−1 for velocities up to about 300 m s−1. For micron/submicron particles the cumulative mass shall be detected with sensitivity 10−10 g. These performances are suitable to provide a statistically relevant set of data about dust physical and dynamic properties
in the dust environment expected for the target comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Pre-flight measurements and post-launch checkouts
demonstrate that GIADA is behaving as expected according to the design specifications.
The International GIADA Consortium (I, E, UK, F, D, USA). 相似文献
Electrons with near-relativistic (E≳30 keV, NrR) and relativistic (E≳0.3 MeV) energies are often observed as discrete events in the inner heliosphere following solar transient activity. Several
acceleration mechanisms have been proposed for the production of those electrons. One candidate is acceleration at MHD shocks
driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with speeds ≳1000 km s−1. Many NrR electron events are temporally associated only with flares while others are associated with flares as well as with
CMEs or with radio type II shock waves. Since CME onsets and associated flares are roughly simultaneous, distinguishing the
sources of electron events is a serious challenge. On a phenomenological basis two classes of solar electron events were known
several decades ago, but recent observations have presented a more complex picture. We review early and recent observational
results to deduce different electron event classes and their viable acceleration mechanisms, defined broadly as shocks versus
flares. The NrR and relativistic electrons are treated separately. Topics covered are: solar electron injection delays from
flare impulsive phases; comparisons of electron intensities and spectra with flares, CMEs and accompanying solar energetic
proton (SEP) events; multiple spacecraft observations; two-phase electron events; coronal flares; shock-associated (SA) events;
electron spectral invariance; and solar electron intensity size distributions. This evidence suggests that CME-driven shocks
are statistically the dominant acceleration mechanism of relativistic events, but most NrR electron events result from flares.
Determining the solar origin of a given NrR or relativistic electron event remains a difficult proposition, and suggestions
for future work are given. 相似文献
In May of 2011, NASA selected the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) asteroid sample return mission as the third mission in the New Frontiers program. The other two New Frontiers missions are New Horizons, which explored Pluto during a flyby in July 2015 and is on its way for a flyby of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019, and Juno, an orbiting mission that is studying the origin, evolution, and internal structure of Jupiter. The spacecraft departed for near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 evolved expendable launch vehicle at 7:05 p.m. EDT on September 8, 2016, on a seven-year journey to return samples from Bennu. The spacecraft is on an outbound-cruise trajectory that will result in a rendezvous with Bennu in November 2018. The science instruments on the spacecraft will survey Bennu to measure its physical, geological, and chemical properties, and the team will use these data to select a site on the surface to collect at least 60 g of asteroid regolith. The team will also analyze the remote-sensing data to perform a detailed study of the sample site for context, assess Bennu’s resource potential, refine estimates of its impact probability with Earth, and provide ground-truth data for the extensive astronomical data set collected on this asteroid. The spacecraft will leave Bennu in 2021 and return the sample to the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) on September 24, 2023.