Description of P78-2 (SCATHA) Satellite and Experiments.

Abstract

The P78-2 (SCATHA) satellite was placed into a near synchronous orbit in early February 1979. The satellite was a part of a joint U.S. Air Force/NASA program to study spacecraft charging. The satellite has its spin axis approximately parallel to the earth's equatorial plane. This allows good pitch angle coverage by the particle experiments. The experiment complement consists of a complete set of plasma, energetic particle, composition, field and wave experiments. The satellite has already provided over two years of data; about one year (February, 1979 to March, 1980) of it has been provided to the experimenters as formatted digital tapes. The data is of very high quality and the coverage is good (> 90%). (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 12, 1982
Accession Number
ADA118232

Entities

People

  • Joseph F. Fennell

Organizations

  • The Aerospace Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Charged Particles
  • Detectors
  • Electric Fields
  • Energy
  • Energy Bands
  • Engineering
  • Ion Beams
  • Ions
  • Mass Spectrometers
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Charging

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computer Science.
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris
  • Space - Satellites