This plasma experiment was designed to: (1) determine the mode of interaction between the planet Mercury and the solar wind; (2) make a comprehensive study of the plasma regime at Mercury; (3) verify and extend previous observations of the solar wind interaction with Venus; (4) clarify the role of electrons in the interactions; and, (5) study the solar wind between 0.4--1.0 AU. Instrumentation for the experiment consisted of two sunward-facing electrostatic analyzers (SESA) and one backward facing electron spectrometer (BESA). These three detectors were mounted on a scanning platform, which could be swept at 1 degree/s through an arc of 120 degrees centered on a direction in the ecliptic plane 6 degrees east of the spacecraft-sun line. Both SESAs failed to return data. They were to measure positive ions from 0.08--8 keV and electrons from 4--400 eV. The BESA had a fan-shaped field of view of +/-3.5 x +/-13.5 degrees. The larger angle was normal to, and symmetric about, the scan arc. An electron spectrum was obtained every 6 s, and consisted of flux measurements in fifteen logarithmically spaced energy channels (with channel width delta-E/E=6.6%) within the energy range 13.4--690 eV. Because solar wind flow past a spacecraft introduces angular distortion of the electron distribution function compared to what would be observed in the solar wind rest frame, it was possible, by taking into account this distortion and the spacecraft sheath characteristics, to derive some of the solar wind plasma parameters such as ion bulk speed, electron temperature, and electron density. The reliability of these parameters is necessarily dependent on the validity of the spacecraft sheath model employed in the analysis, and is thus affected by time changes in the ambient solar wind.
Version:2.4.1
This plasma experiment was designed to: (1) determine the mode of interaction between the planet Mercury and the solar wind; (2) make a comprehensive study of the plasma regime at Mercury; (3) verify and extend previous observations of the solar wind interaction with Venus; (4) clarify the role of electrons in the interactions; and, (5) study the solar wind between 0.4--1.0 AU. Instrumentation for the experiment consisted of two sunward-facing electrostatic analyzers (SESA) and one backward facing electron spectrometer (BESA). These three detectors were mounted on a scanning platform, which could be swept at 1 degree/s through an arc of 120 degrees centered on a direction in the ecliptic plane 6 degrees east of the spacecraft-sun line. Both SESAs failed to return data. They were to measure positive ions from 0.08--8 keV and electrons from 4--400 eV. The BESA had a fan-shaped field of view of +/-3.5 x +/-13.5 degrees. The larger angle was normal to, and symmetric about, the scan arc. An electron spectrum was obtained every 6 s, and consisted of flux measurements in fifteen logarithmically spaced energy channels (with channel width delta-E/E=6.6%) within the energy range 13.4--690 eV. Because solar wind flow past a spacecraft introduces angular distortion of the electron distribution function compared to what would be observed in the solar wind rest frame, it was possible, by taking into account this distortion and the spacecraft sheath characteristics, to derive some of the solar wind plasma parameters such as ion bulk speed, electron temperature, and electron density. The reliability of these parameters is necessarily dependent on the validity of the spacecraft sheath model employed in the analysis, and is thus affected by time changes in the ambient solar wind.
| Role | Person | StartDate | StopDate | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | PrincipalInvestigator | spase://CNES/Person/CDPP-AMDA/Herbert.S.Bridge | |||
| 2. | PrincipalInvestigator | spase://CNES/Person/CDPP-AMDA/Clayne.M.Yeates |
Plasma Science Experiment on Mariner 10