Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The ISEE-C Plasma Wave Investigation

Well what do you think, a spacecraft, one of a number, that spent time investigating energy fields that are near us in space, and then off to feel the effects of flying through a comets tail. Now it has returned to interest us again.

When you see a picture of the planets on paper they are just flat objects with no life, just pretty objects.  Not the case in real life. They are moving through space and interacting with the various electric and magnetic fields in space.  Scientists try to visualize how this all takes place and play with mathematics and reams of paper.  The more real data points they can get, the better they can match their theories with what is really out there.  A very dynamic situation.

Take a look at this training website showing some ideas in graphic form.
It is a 51 page PDF file that gives a lot of information about the Maagnetosphere.
This is part of what ISEE-C and its partners were gathering data to study.
Now put yourself on the Moon during a full moon as you pass the shadowed side of Earth and pass through this magnetosphere.
Do you feel that.  And what about the Northern Lights?
Take a look.
- LRK -

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The Earth’s magnetosphere
text-book chapters 13 – 15,
except reconnection (14.2–3) and convection (15.2–3)

What is a magnetosphere?
• Term introduced by Thomas Gold in 1959
- Earth’s magnetic field determines the motion of the charged particles
• Not a “sphere”
- solar wind deforms the shape of the magnetosphere
• Proper magnetospheres (objects with internal B)
- Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- neutron stars, pulsars, …
- magnetized moons (Ganymede) and asteroids (Gaspra?)
- actually also the environments of stars and galaxies belong to this group
• Solar wind-induced magnetospheres
- Venus, Mars, comets
Inline image 1
Earth Magnetosphere graphic - See link for more information and graphics - LRK -
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If you took a look you found that you need to understand some mathematics.  Not my best subject.
It does interest a number of scientists though.
- LRK -

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SPECIAL ISSUE ON
INSTRUMENTATION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SUN-EARTH EXPLORER SPACECRAFT

List of Papers.
- LRK -

Plasma and Energetic Particle Upstream of a Quasi-Parallel Interplanetary Shock

[17 page PDF with a number of figures with plots and images. - LRK - ]
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A four page PDF paper, just one of many papers.
- LRK -

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The ISEE-C Plasma Wave Investigation
F. L. SCARF, R. W. FREDRICKS, D. A. GURNETT, AND E. J. SMITH

[Just 4 page PDF file with circuitry, images and charts. - LRK - ]
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If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, like $152, then take a look at what has been written in book form.
- LRK -

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Earth's Magnetosphere: Formed by the Low-Latitude Boundary Layer [Hardcover]

by W.J. Heikkila

The author argues that, after five decades of debate about the interactive of solar wind with the magnetosphere, it is time to get back to basics. Starting with Newton's law, this book also examines Maxwell's equations and subsidiary equations such as continuity, constitutive relations and the Lorentz transformation; Helmholtz' theorem, and Poynting's theorem, among other methods for understanding this interaction.


  • Includes chapters on prompt particle acceleration to high energies, plasma transfer event, and the low latitude boundary layer
  • More than 200 figures illustrate the text
  • Includes a color insert
More »
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The NASA page on the ISEE-3 mission.
- LRK -

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ISEE-3

NSSDC/COSPAR ID: 1978-079A

The Explorer-class heliocentric spacecraft, International Sun-Earth Explorer 3, was part of the mother/daughter/heliocentric mission (ISEE 1, 2, and 3). The purposes of the mission were: (1) to investigate solar-terrestrial relationships at the outermost boundaries of the Earth's magnetosphere; (2) to examine in detail the structure of the solar wind near the Earth and the shock wave that forms the interface between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere; (3) to investigate motions of and mechanisms operating in the plasma sheets; and, (4) to continue the investigation of cosmic rays and solar flare emissions in the interplanetary region near 1 AU.

The three spacecraft carried a number of complementary instruments for making measurements of plasmas, energetic particles, waves, and fields. The mission thus extended the investigations of previous IMP spacecraft. The launch of three coordinated spacecraft in this mission permitted the separation of spatial and temporal effects. This heliocentric spacecraft had a spin axis normal to the ecliptic plane and a spin rate of about 20 rpm. It was initially placed into an elliptical halo orbit about the Lagrangian libration point (L1) 235 Earth radii on the sunward side of the Earth, where it continuously monitored changes in the near-Earth interplanetary medium. In conjunction with the mother and daughter spacecraft, which had eccentric geocentric orbits, this mission explored the coupling and energy transfer processes between the incident solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere. In addition, the heliocentric ISEE 3 spacecraft also provided a near-Earth baseline for making cosmic-ray and other planetary measurements for comparison with corresponding measurements from deep-space probes. ISEE 3 was the first spacecraft to use the halo orbit.
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And the Wikipedia article.
- LRK -

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International Cometary Explorer

The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft (designed and launched as the International Sun/Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) satellite), was launched August 12, 1978, into a heliocentric orbit. It was one of the three spacecraft, along with a mother/daughter pair (ISEE-1 and ISEE-2), of the ISEE (International Sun-Earth Explorer) international cooperative program between NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind.
ISEE-3 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit at one of Earth-Sun Lagrangian points (L1). Renamed ICE, it became the first spacecraft to visit a comet, passing through the tail of Comet Giacobini-Zinner within about 7,800 km of the nucleus.[1]
NASA officially suspended contact with ISEE-3 in 1997.[2] After 17 years of no contact, a group of amateurs called the ISEE-3 Reboot Project, with some support from the Skycorp company, established two-way communication with the spacecraft on May 29, 2014.[3][4]
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ISEE3-ICE.jpg
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Look at the list of instruments on the ISEE-3/ICE.
- LRK -

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Solar System Exploration

ISEE-3/ICE

Mission Type: Flyby, Orbiter
Launch Vehicle: Delta 2914 (no. 144 / Thor no. 633)
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, USA, Launch Complex 17B
NASA Center: Goddard Space Flight Center
Spacecraft Mass: 479 kg
Spacecraft Instruments: 1) solar wind plasma experiment; 2) magnetometer ; 3) low-energy cosmic-ray experiment; 4) medium-energy cosmic-ray experiment; 5) high-energy cosmic-ray experiment; 6) plasma waves experiment; 7) protons experiment; 8) cosmic-ray electrons experiment; 9) X-rays and electrons experiment; 10) radio mapping experiment ; 11) plasma composition experiment; 12) high-energy cosmic-rays experiment and 13) ground-based solar studies experiment
Spacecraft Dimensions: 16-sided body 1.7 meters in diameter, 1.6 meters high
Spacecraft Power: solar cells
Maximum Power: 173.0 W (nominal power)
Maximum Data Rate: Nominally 2048 bps during the early part of the mission, and 1024 bps during the Giacobini-Zinner encounter. The bit rate finally dropped to 64 bps (on 12/27/91)
References:
Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24, by Asif A. Siddiqi

National Space Science Data Center, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Solar System Log by Andrew Wilson, published 1987 by Jane's Publishing Co. Ltd.
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You see others are talking and I am just slow to pick up.
- LRK -

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TALLBLOKE'S TALKSHOP

This is a plot of signal received from the satellite and an overlay of the theoretic signal. Carrier (the spike) and modulation sidebands. The frequency will move with time because of doppler, spacecraft and earth are moving relative to each other.

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There is really a lot to understand and a lot of topics that could be considered.  It helps to be on the inside to fully grasp the jargon.
It is easy to graduate from college, get a PHD, and then spend a career on a mission if you get in on the planning stages and endure the delays, have a successful mission, and maybe participate in an extended mission.  You may even be reincarnated and get to take part in something like the Reboot ISEE-3 Project.  :-)
I can't help it.  Just one more time for the link to the ISEE-3 REBOOT PROJECT
http://spacecollege.org/isee3/
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
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