MMS 3 Active Spacecraft Potential Control (ASPOC) - Sensors 1 and 2 Ion Beam Current Rates, Beam Energies, and Instrument Status variables. In tenuous plasma regions, the floating potential of a sunlit spacecraft is positively charged, reaching up to tens of Volts. The corresponding electric field disturbs the ambient plasma measurements obtained from electron and ion sensors and the large fluxes of attracted photo-electrons can significantly reduce the lifetime of the micro-channel plate. The electric field measurements can be also contaminated by the high spacecraft potential values. The Active Spacecraft Potential Control neutralizes the spacecraft potential by releasing positively charged Indium ions. The ASPOCs neutralize the electrical potential of the spacecraft, limiting or eliminating spurious electric fields that can contaminate measurements. This allows observations of the more scientifically important low-energy ions and electrons.
Version:2.2.6
MMS 3 Active Spacecraft Potential Control (ASPOC) - Sensors 1 and 2 Ion Beam Current Rates, Beam Energies, and Instrument Status variables. In tenuous plasma regions, the floating potential of a sunlit spacecraft is positively charged, reaching up to tens of Volts. The corresponding electric field disturbs the ambient plasma measurements obtained from electron and ion sensors and the large fluxes of attracted photo-electrons can significantly reduce the lifetime of the micro-channel plate. The electric field measurements can be also contaminated by the high spacecraft potential values. The Active Spacecraft Potential Control neutralizes the spacecraft potential by releasing positively charged Indium ions. The ASPOCs neutralize the electrical potential of the spacecraft, limiting or eliminating spurious electric fields that can contaminate measurements. This allows observations of the more scientifically important low-energy ions and electrons.
| Role | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | PrincipalInvestigator | spase://SMWG/Person/Klaus.M.Torkar |
| 2. | PrincipalInvestigator | spase://SMWG/Person/Rumi.Nakamura |
| 3. | MetadataContact | spase://SMWG/Person/Robert.E.McGuire |
| 4. | MetadataContact | spase://SMWG/Person/Lee.Frost.Bargatze |
The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission Home Page hosted by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Scientific Investigation home page. The MMS Scientific Investigation is called Solving Magnetospheric Acceleration, Reconnection, and Turbulence (SMART). The web page is hosted by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).
The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission home page hosted by the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, Science Data Center (LASP, SDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) ASPOC home page hosted by the Graz ASPOC team located at the Institut fur Weltraumforschung (IWF), Osterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (OAW).
In CDF via ftp from SPDF.
In CDF via http from SPDF.
Access to ASCII, CDF, and plots via NASA/GSFC CDAWeb
Interval centered time tag rounded to nearest msecond
ASPOC Ion Emission Current Sum
ASPOC Unit 1 Ion Emission Current
ASPOC Unit 2 Ion Emission Current
ASPOC Unit 1 Emitted Beam Energy
ASPOC Unit 2 Emitted Beam Energy
ASPOC Instrument Status
Half width of measurement interval