Active Spacecraft Potential Control in the MMS Mission: Results from Six Years in OrbitShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, ISSN 0093-3813, E-ISSN 1939-9375, Vol. 51, no 9, p. 2461-2467Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The four spacecraft of the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission carry instruments to reduce the positive potential by means of indium ion beams. Since the start of the nominal mission in September 2015 and until the end of 2021, the instruments active spacecraft potential control (ASPOC) have been actively operating for more than 16 000 h at a nominal emission current of $20 \mu \text{A}$ per spacecraft. Based on data from more than six years in orbit with more than 50 000 h in regions of scientific interest, statistical results regarding the potential's interdependencies with ambient plasma were obtained. This article reports on the derivation of the photo electron energy spectrum from the correlation between the potential and the plasma data obtained by the fast plasma instrument with and without controlled potential. Finally, the time constants during the relaxation of the controlled potential when the active control instrument is turned off, if measured at high time resolution, allow to estimate the electric capacitance of the spacecraft system.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) , 2023. Vol. 51, no 9, p. 2461-2467
Keywords [en]
Electrostatic potentials, ion emission, magnetosphere, plasma measurements, solar wind, space vehicles, surface charging
National Category
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-349654DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2023.3268414ISI: 000988391900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85159842590OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-349654DiVA, id: diva2:1881152
Note
QC 20240702
2024-07-022024-07-022024-07-02Bibliographically approved