Cluster-II is
a cooperative mission between NASA and ESA. On 3 April 1997 ESA's
Science Programme Committee approved the reflight of the full
mission by mid-2000. Cluster II will comprise the Phoenix spacecraft
(built from the original flight spares) and three identical new
satellites to be built bya European industrial consortium led
by Daimler Benz Aerospace (Dornier). The Cluster II mission is
an in-situ investigation of the Earth's magnetosphere using
four identical spacecraft simultaneously. It will permit the
accurate determination of three-dimensional and time-varying
phenomena and will make it possible to distinguish between spatial
and temporal variations. The satellites will be launched in two
pairs by two Soyuz launchers (procured through the Starsem consortium)
in mid-2000 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
As planned, the
four spacecraft will carry out three-dimensional measurements
in the Earth's magnetosphere, covering both large-scale and small-scale
phenomena in the sunward and tail regions. Once Cluster II has
joined Soho in orbit, the original aims of the combined Solar-Terrestrial
Science Programme, STSP should at last be fulfilled.
Eventually the
Cluster II and SOHO measurements will also be coordinated with
an international fleet of spacecraft, through the IACG (Inter-Agency
Consultative Group) to form a unique set of data on the interaction
between the Sun and the Earth.
Salient Features:
Project Start: 2nd quarter 1995
Spacecraft Weight Dry: 525 kg
Planned Lifetime: 2 years
Orbit: apogee of 19.6 Earth radii and a perigee of 4 Earth
radii
Launch: June-July 2000
Instrument
Complement:
STAFF, the Spatio-Temporal
Analysis of Field Fluctuations experiment (PI: N. Cornilleau-Wehrlin)
EFW, the Electrical Field and Wave experiment (PI: G. Gustaffson)
DWP, the Digital Wave-Processing experiment (PI: H. Alleyne)
WHISPER, the Waves of High Frequency and Sounder for Probing
of
Density by Relaxation experiment (PI: P.M. Decreau).
WBD, the Wideband Data instrument (PI:D.A. Gurnett)
FGM, the Fluxgate Magnetometer (PI: A.Balogh)
EDI, the Electron Drift Instrument (PI: G. Paschmann),
ASPOC, the Active Spacecraft Potential Control experiment (PI:
W. Riedler)
PEACE, the Plasma Electron and Current Analyser (PI: A. Fazakerley).
CIS, the Cluster Ion Spectrometry Experiment (PI: H. Reme),
RAPID, Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors (PI:
B. Wilken). |