HR: 0800h
AN: SM41A-1164    [Abstracts]
TI: Thermal Plasma Measurements in the Earth's Plasmasphere by the Mutual Impedance Probe Onboard the Rosetta Spacecraft
AU: * TROTIGNON, J
EM: Jean-Gabriel.Trotignon@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, 3A, avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans cedex 02, F-45071 France
AU: LAGOUTTE, D
EM: Dominique.Lagoutte@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, 3A, avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans cedex 02, F-45071 France
AU: MICHAU, J
EM: jlmichau@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, 3A, avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans cedex 02, F-45071 France
AU: Grimald, S
EM: Sandrine.Grimald@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, 3A, avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans cedex 02, F-45071 France
AU: Decreau, P M
EM: pdecreau@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, 3A, avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans cedex 02, F-45071 France
AU: RANDRIAMBOARISON, O
EM: randriam@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, 3A, avenue de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans cedex 02, F-45071 France
AU: ROBERT, P
EM: Patrick.Robert@cetp.ipsl.fr
AF: CETP/CNRS/IPSL, Universite Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 10/12 avenue de l'Europe, Velizy, F-78140 France
AU: LEBRETON, J
EM: Jean-Pierre.Lebreton@esa.int
AF: ESA/ESTEC/RSSD, Keplerlaan 1, Postbus 299, Noordwijk, 2201 AG Netherlands
AU: Hamelin, M
EM: michel.hamelin@cetp.ipsl.fr
AF: IPSL/CETP, 4, avenue de Neptune, Saint-Maur des Foss‚, F-94107 France
AU: MAZELLE, C
EM: Christian.Mazelle@cesr.fr
AF: CESR, 9, av. du Colonel Roche, BP 4346, Toulouse cedex 04, F-31028 France
AB: To reach Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft must undergo four planet gravity assistances. The first one, an Earth fly-by, occurred in early March 2005. At closest approach, on 4 March at 22:09 U.T., Rosetta passed at about 1950 km over the Pacific Ocean just west of Mexico. It was thus the closest-ever Earth fly-by made by an ESA's spacecraft. The mutual impedance probe, MIP, and the 4 other instruments of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium, RPC, were switched on during the event. Calibration and general testing were the main objectives, nevertheless valuable observations of the Earth's space environment have actually been made, in particular by the MIP in the plasmasphere, the high electron-density region dominated by the Earth's magnetic field. An alternating current, I, with a frequency lying in the frequency range that contains the plasma frequency resonance, is driven through a transmitting electrode. The induced difference in voltage, V, measured on open circuit between two receiving electrodes is fed into a high input impedance amplifier. The mutual impedance, Z, which is computed onboard, is equal to the ratio of V to I. As Z depends essentially on the properties of the surrounding plasma, the frequency response of the mutual impedance probe may then be used for plasma diagnosis, in particular the electron plasma density and temperature can be accurately and reliably determined.
DE: 2768 Plasmasphere
DE: 2794 Instruments and techniques
DE: 6939 Magnetospheric physics (2700)
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005