Spacecraft Spin Period Research Articles

A direct examination of the dynamics of dipolarization fronts using MMS

AbstractEnergy conversion on the dipolarization fronts (DFs) has attracted much research attention through the suggestion that intense current densities associated with DFs can modify the more global magnetotail current system. The current structures associated with a DF are at the scale of one to a few ion gyroradii, and their duration is comparable to a spacecraft's spin period. Hence, it is crucial to understand the physical mechanisms of DFs with measurements at a timescale shorter than a spin period. We present a case study whereby we use measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission, which provides full 3‐D particle distributions with a cadence much shorter than a spin period. We provide a cross validation amongst the current density calculations and examine the assumptions that have been adopted in previous literature using the advantages of MMS mission (i.e., small‐scale tetrahedron and high temporal resolution). We also provide a cross validation on the terms in the generalized Ohm's law using these advantageous measurements. Our results clearly show that the majority of the currents on the DF are contributed by both ion and electron diamagnetic drifts. Our analysis also implies that the ion frozen‐in condition does not hold on the DF, while electron frozen‐in condition likely holds. The new experimental capabilities allow us to accurately calculate Joule heating within the DF, which shows that plasma energy is being converted to magnetic energy in our event.

Modelling of spacecraft spin period during eclipse

Abstract. The majority of scientific satellites investigating the Earth magnetosphere are spin stabilized. The attitude information comes usually from a sun sensor and is missing in the umbra; hence, the accurate experimental determination of vector quantities is not possible during eclipses. The spin period of the spacecraft is generally not constant during these times because the moment of inertia changes due to heat dissipation. The temperature dependence of the moment of inertia for each spacecraft has a specific signature determined by its design and distribution of mass. We developed an "eclipse-spin" model for the spacecraft spin period behaviour using magnetic field vector measurements close to the Earth, where the magnetic field is dominated by the dipole field, and in the magnetospheric lobes, where the magnetic field direction is mostly constant. The modelled spin periods give us extraordinarily good results with accumulated phase deviations over one hour of less than 10 degrees. Using the eclipse spin model satellite experiments depending on correct spin phase information can deliver science data even during eclipses. Two applications for THEMIS B, one in the lobe and the other in the lunar wake, are presented.

Thermal ion measurements on board Interball Auroral Probe by the Hyperboloid experiment

Abstract. Hyperboloid is a multi-directional mass spectrometer measuring ion distribution functions in the auroral and polar magnetosphere of the Earth in the thermal and suprathermal energy range. The instrument encompasses two analyzers containing a total of 26 entrance windows, and viewing in two almost mutually perpendicular half-planes. The nominal angular resolution is defined by the field of view of individual windows ≈13° × 12.5°. Energy analysis is performed using spherical electrostatic analyzers providing differential measurements between 1 and 80 eV. An ion beam emitter (RON experiment) and/or a potential bias applied to Hyperboloid entrance surface are used to counteract adverse effects of spacecraft potential and thus enable ion measurements down to very low energies. A magnetic analyzer focuses ions on one of four micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors, depending on their mass/charge ratio. Normal modes of operation enable to measure H+, He+, O++, and O+ simultaneously. An automatic MCP gain control software is used to adapt the instrument to the great flux dynamics encountered between spacecraft perigee (700 km) and apogee (20 000 km). Distribution functions in the main analyzer half-plane are obtained after a complete scan of windows and energies with temporal resolution between one and a few seconds. Three-dimensional (3D) distributions are measured in one spacecraft spin period (120 s). The secondary analyzer has a much smaller geometrical factor, but offers partial access to the 3D dependence of the distributions with a few seconds temporal resolution. Preliminary results are presented. Simultaneous, local heating of both H+ and O+ ions resulting in conical distributions below 80 eV is observed up to 3 Earth's radii altitudes. The thermal ion signatures associated with large-scale nightside magnetospheric boundaries are investigated and a new ion outflow feature is identified associated to the polar edge of the auroral oval. Detailed distribution functions of injected magnetosheath ions and ouflowing cleft fountain ions are measured down to a few eVs in the dayside.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; particle acceleration; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions)

The Ion Mass Imager on the Planet-B spacecraft

The Ion Mass Imager (IMI) is a light-weight ion mass composition instrument for the Japanese Planet-B mission to be launched to Mars in 1998. The objective of the Planet-B mission is to study the Martian environment with emphasis on the upper atmosphere interaction with the solar wind. IMI measures positive ions with energies between 10 eV/q and 35 keV/q and with a mass resolution high enough to resolve the most important ion species (H+, He++, He+, O++, O+, O2+). The instrument has a 360° field-of-view aperture and uses the spacecraft spin to cover almost the full unit sphere to obtain three-dimensional distribution functions every 4 s (half a spacecraft spin period). Particles are energy-filtered by a spherical electrostatic analyzer, and then mass-analysed by the magnetic separation method. The ions hit a microchannel plate assembly with a position sensitive anode divided into 32 mass channels. Together with 16 angular sectors, this system “images” the direction of motion and mass of ions. A pre-acceleration voltage of 0–4000 V is used to select the mass range, e.g., modes optimized for light ions (up to O+) and heavy ions (O+ to charged dust grains). A loss-less data compression algorithm is used in the in-flight processing software to optimize the amount of data that can be returned from Mars.

Thermal ion measurements on board Interball Auroral Probe by the Hyperboloid experiment

Hyperboloid is a multi-directional mass spectrometer measuring ion distribution functions in the auroral and polar magnetosphere of the Earth in the thermal and suprathermal energy range. The instrument encompasses two analyzers containing a total of 26 entrance windows, and viewing in two almost mutually perpendicular half-planes. The nominal angular resolution is defined by the field of view of individual windows ≈13° × 12.5°. Energy analysis is performed using spherical electrostatic analyzers providing differential measurements between 1 and 80 eV. An ion beam emitter (RON experiment) and/or a potential bias applied to Hyperboloid entrance surface are used to counteract adverse effects of spacecraft potential and thus enable ion measurements down to very low energies. A magnetic analyzer focuses ions on one of four micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors, depending on their mass/charge ratio. Normal modes of operation enable to measure H+, He+, O++, and O+ simultaneously. An automatic MCP gain control software is used to adapt the instrument to the great flux dynamics encountered between spacecraft perigee (700 km) and apogee (20 000 km). Distribution functions in the main analyzer half-plane are obtained after a complete scan of windows and energies with temporal resolution between one and a few seconds. Three-dimensional (3D) distributions are measured in one spacecraft spin period (120 s). The secondary analyzer has a much smaller geometrical factor, but offers partial access to the 3D dependence of the distributions with a few seconds temporal resolution. Preliminary results are presented. Simultaneous, local heating of both H+ and O+ ions resulting in conical distributions below 80 eV is observed up to 3 Earth's radii altitudes. The thermal ion signatures associated with large-scale nightside magnetospheric boundaries are investigated and a new ion outflow feature is identified associated to the polar edge of the auroral oval. Detailed distribution functions of injected magnetosheath ions and ouflowing cleft fountain ions are measured down to a few eVs in the dayside.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; particle acceleration; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions)

Calibration and Systematic Error Analysis for the COBE DMR 4 Year Sky Maps

The Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) instrument aboard the Cosmic Background Explorer (CO BE) has mapped the full microwave sky to mean sensitivity 26 μK per 7° field of view. The absolute calibration is determined to 0.7% with drifts smaller than 0.2% per year. We have analyzed both the raw differential data and the pixelized sky maps for evidence of contaminating sources such as solar system foregrounds, instrumental susceptibilities, and artifacts from data recovery and processing. Most systematic effects couple only weakly to the sky maps. The largest uncertainties in the maps result from the instrument susceptibility to Earth's magnetic field, microwave emission from Earth, and upper limits to potential effects at the spacecraft spin period. Systematic effects in the maps are small compared to either the noise or the celestial signal: the 95% confidence upper limit for the pixel-pixel rms from all identified systematics is less than 6 μK in the worst channel. A power spectrum analysis of the (A - B)/2 difference maps shows no evidence for additional undetected systematic effects.

Dispersive O<sup>+</sup> conics observed in the plasma-sheet boundary layer with CRRES/LOMICS during a magnetic storm

Abstract. We present initial results from the Low-energy magnetospheric ion composition sensor (LOMICS) on the Combined release and radiation effects satellite (CRRES) together with electron, magnetic field, and electric field wave data. LOMICS measures all important magnetospheric ion species (H+, He++, He+, O++, O+) simultaneously in the energy range 60 eV to 45 keV, as well as their pitch-angle distributions, within the time resolution afforded by the spacecraft spin period of 30 s. During the geomagnetic storm of 9 July 1991, over a period of 42 min (0734 UT to 0816 UT) the LOMICS ion mass spectrometer observed an apparent O+ conic flowing away from the southern hemisphere with a bulk velocity that decreased exponentially with time from 300 km/s to 50 km/s, while its temperature also decreased exponentially from 700 to 5 eV. At the onset of the O+ conic, intense low-frequency electromagnetic wave activity and strong pitch-angle scattering were also observed. At the time of the observations the CRRES spacecraft was inbound at L~7.5 near dusk, magnetic local time (MLT), and at a magnetic latitude of –23°. Our analysis using several CRRES instruments suggests that the spacecraft was skimming along the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) when the upward-flowing ion conic arrived. The conic appears to have evolved in time, both slowing and cooling, due to wave-particle interactions. We are unable to conclude whether the conic was causally associated with spatial structures of the PSBL or the central plasma sheet.

The change of Giotto's dynamical state during the P/Grigg‐Skjellerup flyby caused by dust particle impacts

The Giotto spacecraft was decelerated by impacting cometary dust during its flight through the coma of comet P/Grigg‐Skjellerup on July 10, 1992. The change in radial velocity determined by two‐way Doppler measurements made on July 8 (pre encounter) and July 11 (post encounter) was (−0.4 ± 0.1) mm/s. An abrupt frequency drop of 138 Hz was observed in the one‐way real‐time data during the actual encounter phase at 1530:42.8 UT, 6 s after the expected time of closest approach. This frequency discontinuity is attributed to a disturbance in the spacecraft's radio system and is unrelated to the spacecraft deceleration inferred from the more reliable two‐way Doppler measurements. The spacecraft spin period changed by (−0.8 ± 0.1) ms and a nutation of amplitude (0.10° ± 0.01°) was generated. This relatively large nutation angle, coupled with the very modest deceleration, is most easily generated by a single dust particle. Assuming that the total impacted mass was concentrated in one single large particle, it is possible to determine a range for the total impacted real mass (20‐39 mg), the total change in velocity Δυ (≃1 mm/s), the momentum enhancement factor ϵ (0 to 2.0), and the impact coordinates on the spacecraft. It is deduced that the particle most likely impacted on the upper end of the spacecraft toward the antenna tripod. No definite solution could be found for impacts on the bumper shield.

Polarization of the impulsive signals observed in the nightside ionosphere of Venus

The impulsive plasma wave bursts detected by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter electric field detector in the nightside ionosphere of Venus have been attributed to atmospheric lightning. However, it has also been argued that the wave bursts are generated locally by plasma instabilities. The waves associated with local instabilities are most probably electrostatic in nature, while lightning‐generated waves should be whistler mode waves, at least at the lowest frequencies. It may be possible to identify the wave modes through analysis of the wave polarization. We show that for typical ionospheric parameters the whistler mode wave electric field should be polarized predominantly perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. However, the signals are often impulsive in nature, with durations much less than the spacecraft spin period, and an individual wave event is likely to be aliased since the event may occur at arbitrary spin phase and arbitrary intensity. Statistical analysis of the wave polarization using data acquired in the third nightside periapsis season shows that the 100‐Hz data suffer from interference, which may be due to the interaction of the spacecraft with the ambient plasma. The interference is removed through visual inspection of the data, and we show that the 100‐Hz waves are polarized perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field provided we restrict the data to those intervals in which the magnetic field is sufficiently far from horizontal to allow vertical propagation within the whistler mode resonance cone. The 100‐Hz waves detected outside of the resonance cone are polarized parallel to the magnetic field, as are the waves at higher frequency. The waves consequently fall into two classes: whistler mode waves which are most likely due to atmospheric lightning, since the low phase speed of the whistler mode argues against an in situ instability, and a mode that is polarized parallel to the ambient field. This latter mode may be analogous to the anomalous parallel polarized wave fields detected in the terrestrial ionosphere above thunderstorms.

Short‐wavelength electrostatic waves in the Earth's magnetosheath

Recent observations with the ISEE 1 spacecraft have found electric field emissions in the dayside magnetosheath whose frequency spectrum is modulated at twice the spacecraft spin period. The upper frequency cutoff in the frequency‐time spectrum of the emission has a characteristic parabola shape or “festoon” shape. The low‐frequency cutoff ranges from 100 to 400 Hz, while the high‐frequency limit ranges from about 1 to 4 kHz. The bandwidth is found to minimize for antenna orientations parallel to the wave vectors. The wave vector does not appear to be related to the local magnetic field, the plasma flow velocity, or the spacecraft‐sun directions. The spacecraft observed frequency spectrum results from the spacecraft antenna response to the Doppler‐shifted wave vector spectrum which exists in the plasma. Imposed constraints on the plasma rest frame wave vectors and frequencies indicate that emissions occur within the frequency range from about 150 Hz to 1 kHz, with wavelengths between about 40 and 600 m. These constraints strongly suggest that the festoon‐shaped emissions are ion‐acoustic waves. The small group velocity and k direction of the ion‐acoustic mode are consistent with wave generation upstream at the bow shock and convection downstream to locations within the outer dayside magnetosheath.

A Digital System for Accurate Time Sector Division of a Spin-Stabilized Vehicle

This paper describes an aspect system flown on PIONEERS VI and VII2 which incorporates an extremely accurate adaptive digital computer in order to define rigorously equal time intervals which are submultiples of the spacecraft spin period. The several submultiples which compose the complete spin period exhibit equality to within 2.5 parts in 105. This system has potential applications in other experiments involving the study of the angular dependence of cosmic radiation and other physical phenomena being measured by a single directional detector mounted on spin-stabilized spacecraft. Included here are the scientific goals for this experiment, system restraints, and the generalized system operation. Some details on specific logic and hardware implementation for the Pioneer experiments are included along with in-flight performance evaluation of the system aboard PIONEER VI.