SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging AT High Altitudes) Plasma Interaction Experiment: SC-3 High Energy Particle Spectrometer; SC-8 Energetic Ion Composition Experiment.
Abstract
This report describes the results of the SC-3 (High Energy Particle Spectrometer) and SC-8 (Energetic Ion Composition Experiment) instruments flown on the SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging at High Altitudes) satellite, launched in January 1979 into a near geosynchronous orbit. The instruments measure electrons at energies of 0.05-5.0 MeV, protons of 1-100 MeV, and mass composition of ions in the range E/q=0.1-32. keV/e. Both instruments continue to be fully operational at this time. Principal results of the High Energy Particle Spectrometer have addressed radial profiles and energy spectra of energetic particles, the role of energetic particles in the charging and discharging of spacecraft dielectrics, the behavior of trapped electrons at flux levels near the Kennel-Petchek trapping limit, and the precipitation of energetic electrons into the ionosphere. The Energetic Ion Composition Experiment has provided the first ion composition data with routine pitch angle coverage in the vicinity of geosynchronous orbit. The advances resulting from this instrument can be grouped into four categories: (1) plasma injection and transport, (2) detailed structure of near-geosynchronous plasma distributions, (3) interactions between hot plasmas and spacecraft, and (4) global understanding arising from the synthesis of individual results. Additional keywords: abstracts, literature surveys, electric charge, space charge, particle flux, electron guns, ion guns. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA149728
Entities
People
- E. G. Shelley
- J. M. Quinn
- R. D. Sharp
- R. W. Nightingale
Organizations
- Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space