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The EQ-S is an international cooperative mission between NASA and The German Space Agency,DARA. The spacecraft is provided by Germany and will carry instruments to provide high-resolution plasma, magnetic, and electric field measurements in several regions not covered by existing International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) missions. These regions are namely the low-latitude dayside magnetopause and its boundary layer, the equatorial ring current, and the near-earth equatorial plasma sheet. EQ-S will be launched on an Ariane IV launch vehicle in late 1997. NASA will provide the Apogee kick motor used to circularize the orbit. Mission analysis and operation will be provided by the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) of the DLR. NASA is providing the 3D Plasma Instrument of the University of Washington which will measure electrons from 1 KeV to 30 KeV. NASA is also providing the significant support to two other instruments to be flown on the spacecraft. NASA is furnishing the Time-of-Flight (TOF) section for the Ion Composition Instrument provided by Max Plank Institut Fur Extraterrestrische Physch (MPE). The instrument will cover an energy range similar to that of the 3D Plasma Instrument. NASA is also supplying the Gun Detector Units (GDU) for the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI),being provided by MPE. The EDI will measure the drift of a weak beam of test electrons which is related to the ambient electric field and the gradient in the magnetic field. Salient Features:
Magnetometer (GERMANY) |
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