Other
Scientific paper
Apr 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004esasp.543...55h&link_type=abstract
Proceedings of the 37th ESLAB Symposium `Tools and Technologies for Future Planetary Exploration', Noordwijk, The Netherlands (E
Other
Scientific paper
The elemental and isotopic composition of planetary bodies such as the Moon or asteroids could be observed with an instrument onboard of an orbiting spacecraft. The solar wind impinges on the surface, sputtering atoms off rocks and regolith with an efficiency of about 1%. Atoms are ionised in the initial sputtering process, others by the solar UV radiation and the solar wind plasma as the atoms escape from the surface. The ions are picked up by the magnetic field embedded in the solar wind via the Lorentz force and are accelerated to up to twice the solar wind velocity. The ions constitute an in-situ probe of the surface uppermost layer which can be detected via a particle telescope, e.g. a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The observation of the ions together with the solar wind plasma parameters such as velocity and magnetic field allow the calculation of the trajectory and the determination of the ion source location. Interesting targets would be the moon or asteroids, remotely sampling the body's surface.
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