The Upper Atmosphere Composition Spectrometer.

Abstract

The Upper Atmosphere Composition Spectrometer (UACS) was flown on the DOD Space Test Program mission S85-1. This report describes the instrument and its operation. The Upper Atmosphere Composition Spectrometer employs a conventional quadrupole mass filter with a semiopen ionization chamber and a special dual detector system for a large dynamic measurement range. In addition to measuring neutral gas composition for masses 4 to 48, UACS performs a retarding potential analysis of the incident neutral gas stream to measure atmospheric temperature and one component of the neutral wind. Examples of its operation in orbit are discussed. Keywords: Atmospheric Composition; Neutral Mass Spectrometers; Satellites; Wind; Temperature.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1986
Accession Number
ADA175788

Entities

People

  • Charles K. Howey
  • David C. Kayser
  • James B. Pranke
  • William T. Chater

Organizations

  • The Aerospace Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Altitude
  • Atmospheres
  • Calibration
  • Chambers
  • Detectors
  • Dynamic Range
  • Electron Beams
  • Grids
  • Instrumentation
  • Ion Sources
  • Ionization
  • Ionization Chambers
  • Mass Spectrometers
  • Measurement
  • Space Sciences
  • Spectrometers

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster