v-% • •;• ESA SP -.1032' • • ' > " • A' •tL- •• ;• % •• .- . • i*-V'..;' • '-. '*•' 7 " • - - •Jr y ' * » •^ ••'• m, • • ..' *" * «-* V " »• •?*'.- - • • •3 - 1 •• l . • • * • •4 •• ) ..'.•, %.:" - / Report on thê açtiyitie« of * SPACE SÔlEtstôÉ £K •. :, .v f^gloo 2,85" esa SP-1032 September 1980 Report on the activities of Space Science Department in 1978/1979 Compiled by DE Page BFitton APedersen B G Taylor &K-PWenzel from inputs received from SSD staff european space agency / agence spatiale européenne 8-10, rue Mario-Nikis, 75738 PARIS CEDEX 15, France Documents in the ESA SP four-digit series contain information of value to or derived from the Agency's programmes (other than the proceedings of ESA- sponsored conferences or symposia), are published by the ESA Scientific and Technical Publications Branch. ESTEC. and are printed in The Netherlands by ESTEC Reproduction Services. Approved for publication: 18 July 1980 Edited by: W.R. Burke with the assistance of J. Mort. Job no.: 802645 Price code: El Copyright C 1980 by European Space Agency ISSN 0379-6566 Contents Introduction I Summary of Department budget and manpower 4 Cosmic Ray Division 5 Space Plasma Physics Division 21 Astronomy Division 33 High Energy» Astrophysics Division S3 Annex I - Considerations and recommendations of the SSD Advisory Committee 65 Annex II — List of Seminars 69 ( ! Introduction The 22 scientific staff in Space Science Department The Department aims through its structure, working support studies of potential ESA missions, act as project methods and continuous reorientation of its research scientists during the development and data-exploitation priorities to be in a position at any time to provide phases of chosen missions and carry out some research. scientific support to studies or projects over a majority of the scientific disciplines in or likely to come into the ESA The study scientist supports studies through the various scientific programme. It is unrealistic to attempt to cover phases leading up to selection of the Agency's projects. all areas and. given the constraints of a lowering <:tafT He feeds in at an early stage experience gained by SSD in ceiling and fixed budget, re-direction has to be slow former projects and attempts to bridge the gap between because of the long time constants ofspace projects. In the desires of the European scientists and the technical deciding how best to proceed. SSD has from time lo time and financial realities of project execution. sought advice from senior scientists outside ESA. The most recent report on SSD. which resulted from the The project scientist provides the liaison between the meeting of Professors J Geiss. J Hieblol. C de Jager. national experimenters and the ESA project engineers R Lust and Sir Harric Massey in July (978. is attached as and sorts out conflicts between scientists participating in an Annex to this report (rcf. ESA.SPC(7K}30). the same project. During project execution he tries lo ensure that the original scientific aims of the mission are SSD is at present structured in four Divisions The as far as possible maintained within the constraints Cosmic Ray. Space Plasma Physics. Astronomy and properly imposed by the available technology, the cost High Energy Astrophysics Divisions. Figure 1 illustrates and the schedule. Together with participating scientists this structure, names the scientists and visitors working he draws up plans for operating the satellite in orbit and in each Division and briefly lists the scientific topics for distributing the data. These plans require continuing being dealt with. The way in which SSD has evolved revision after launch in the light of scientific discoveries over the years in response lo the needs of the ESA and unexpected behaviour of spacecraft and programme is more fully described in the last SSD report experiments. The project scientist encourages the (Ref. ESA/SPCf7S)/l ), One change recently made (others exchange and intercomparison of data and frequently can be found in the body of the report) has been the organises symposia for these purposes. strengthening of the ultraviolet expertise in the Astronomy Division so that the Space Telescope project All SSD scientists participate in a research programme and allied photon-detector developments could be better which is carried out jointly with colleagues in other supported. This change was achieved at the expense of European laboratories. The time which any individual the infrared programme, since although SSD has had lo can give to his research varies markedly from year to allocate considerable feasibility-study effort to this area. year depending on the demands of the projects which ESA has not yet had an IR project approved. Although must be supported. On average, research occupies less the Department has no Division devoted to atmospheric then 50 percent of the working hours of an SSD scientist. physics, it has expertise in infrared techniques which are well suited to the study of the atmosphere and indeed In addition SSD has had on average during 1978/79 six joint proposals have been submitted for such studies. In visiting scientists, each of whom may be expected lo stay addition the Cosmic Ray Division has pursued, together for two years. This visitor programme is financed from with atmospheric scientists in Belgium, its interest in the General (Education) Budget of ESA and is not Sun/Earth relations by developing detectors to measure therefore a burden to the Scientific Programme. the solar constant, and plans are now being made to Although visitors, unlike other SSD staff, are not obliged devote the 1980 ESLAB symposium lo just this topic. to give priority to project work, SSD has found them helpful in all aspects of the work. Their presence has The Department has continued to adhere to its policy of helped to maintain a scientific atmosphere within SSD. carrying out research in co-operation with outside especially at times when the demands of project work scientific groups and of looking for arrangements which have threatened to extinguish the research programme, could benefit countries and institutes having little space and has helped to strengthen links with outside scientific experience. A recent example is the preparation by the groups. Cosmic Ray Division and Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies of a cosmic-ray experiment to be flown on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (Shuttle Test Flight). Head of department Assi./sec. Dr D E Page Miss A M van den Eijkel Divisions Cosmic Ray Space Plasma Physics Astroromy High energy astrophysics Division Head Dr K-P Wenzel Dr A Pedersen Dr B Fitton Dr BG Taylor Scientists Dr V Domingo Dr A Gonfalone Dr R Emery Dr RD Andresen Dr AC Durney Dr R Grard Dr Th de Graauw Dr K Bennett Dr R Reinhard Dr K Knott Dr B Feuerbacher Dr A Peacock Dr.TR Sanderson Dr V Formisano Dr F Macchetto Dr RD Wills Dr R Zobl Project ISPM Geos Lidar Cos-B scientist ISEE FSLP IUE Exosat support HEOS-2. HEOS-1. ST Exosat payload ESRO-IV FSLP management Studies 1978/79 Comets POLO Hipparcos EXUV Asteroids Eiscatsat Infrared space GRIST SEOCS Geos-3 observatory X-fay spectroscopy X-ray transients Research Cosmic rays + solar Magnetospheric fields + Opt. + UV astronomy X and gamma astronomy areas particles waves IR astronomy detection techniques Magnetosphere Surface charging Laboratory astrophysics Sun-climate relations Laboratory plasmas Visiting Dr R Kamermans Dr D Andersson DrSLidholm Dr J Davelaar scientists Dr JP Lebreton Dr D Naylor Dr G Manzo Dr F Becckmans (+five IUE Fellows at ( + Dr G Lichti Villafranca) (Cos-B. ESOC» Figure ! Posilion at end of 1979 In the chapters which follow each of the four Divisions provided by each Division. A dramatic increase appears has described its work in the sequence: 'Support given to in the chapter prepared by the Astronomy Division and projects', 'Support given to studies', and 'Research this is explained almost entirely by the success of IUE activities'. The effort and time devoted to each area of and the involvement of SSD staff at ESTEC together work is by no means proportional to the length of text with visiting scientists based at Villafranca in the IUE appearing in each area. Any attempt to fully describe spacecraft operations. support given to a project tends to result in what is merely a diary of meetings, tests, failures, re-scheduling SSD encouragement of other scientists to co-ordinate efforts, repair of experiments, re-tests, compromise data has continued and several symposia and workshops negotiation, inter-experimenter refereeing etc.. and such have been convened within the framework of the diaries, although instructive, seemed inappropriate in International Magnelospheric Study. The 1978 annual this report Reports on projects and studies therefore in symposium was held in cooperation with COSPAR at general simply describe the project and say that it was Innsbruck and was called: 'Advances in Magnetospheric supported. It should be mentioned, however, that major Physics with Geos-1 and ISEE-1 and 2'. The 1979 efforts, outside the normal role ofSSD, have gone into symposium on 'Magnetospheric Boundary Layers' was the IUE and Exosat projects. Tbe scientific operations of jointly sponsored by the Max Planck Institute at IUE were planned and are directed from the Astronomy Carching, Space Science Department the American Division to which the visiting scientists at Villafranca Geophysical Union, the European Geophysical Society report. The design and production of the Exosat payload and the Austrian Solar and Space Agency. For the is being managed from the High Energy Astrophysics twelfth time SSD compiled the report describing results Division and plans are now being made for the operation from ESA's scientific projects which is issued each year of the Exosat Observatory and the distribution of the at the time of the COSPAR meeting. A brief text written data. in more popular style (SP-1013) was also prepared in order to describe the 'Achievements of ESA Scientific During 1978/79 the rate of publications has remained at Satellites'.