Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsh11b1620k&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SH11B-1620
Physics
Plasma Physics
[7500] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy, [7800] Space Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
The NASA Solar Probe Plus mission will be humanity’s first direct visit to the atmosphere of our Sun. The spacecraft will close to within nine solar radii (about four million miles) of the solar surface in order to observe the heating of the corona and the acceleration of the solar wind first hand. A key requirement for Solar Probe Plus is the ability to make continuous, accurate, and fast measurements of the electrons and ionized helium (alpha-particles) and hydrogen (protons) that constitute the bulk of the solar wind. The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) Investigation is a two-instrument suite that provides these observations. The purpose of this talk is to describe the science motivation for SWEAP, the instrument designs, and the expected data products. SWEAP consists of the Solar Probe Cup (SPC) and the Solar Probe Analyzers (SPAN). SWEAP measurements enable discovery and understanding of solar wind acceleration and formation, coronal and solar wind heating, high-energy particle acceleration, and the interaction between solar wind and the dust environment of the inner heliosphere. SPC is a Faraday Cup (FC) that looks at the Sun and measures ion and electron fluxes and flow angles as a function of energy. SPAN consists of an ion and electron electrostatic analyzer (ESA) on the ram side of SPP (SPAN-A) and an electron ESA on the anti-ram side (SPAN-B). SPAN-A and -B are rotated 90 degrees relative to one another so their broad FOV combine like the seams on a baseball to view the entire sky except for the region obscured by the heat shield. SWEAP data products include ion and electron velocity distribution functions with high energy and angular resolution at 0.5-16 Hz and flow angles and fluxes at 128 Hz. Continuous buffering provides triggered burst observations during shocks, reconnection events, and other transient structures with no changes to the instrument operating mode.
Kasper Justin Christophe
SWEAP Investigation Team
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