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Study of the spacecraft potential under active control and plasma density estimates during the MMS commissioning phase
Author(s) -
Andriopoulou M.,
Nakamura R.,
Torkar K.,
Baumjohann W.,
Torbert R. B.,
Lindqvist P.A.,
Khotyaintsev Y. V.,
Dorelli J.,
Burch J. L.,
Russell C. T.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068529
Subject(s) - spacecraft , spacecraft charging , aerospace engineering , spacecraft design , environmental science , physics , engineering
Each spacecraft of the recently launched magnetospheric multiscale MMS mission is equipped with Active Spacecraft Potential Control (ASPOC) instruments, which control the spacecraft potential in order to reduce spacecraft charging effects. ASPOC typically reduces the spacecraft potential to a few volts. On several occasions during the commissioning phase of the mission, the ASPOC instruments were operating only on one spacecraft at a time. Taking advantage of such intervals, we derive photoelectron curves and also perform reconstructions of the uncontrolled spacecraft potential for the spacecraft with active control and estimate the electron plasma density during those periods. We also establish the criteria under which our methods can be applied.