The Ulisses Particles and Fields Environment Reference Mission I
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I PAFERM, THE ULISSES PARTICLES AND FIELDS ENVIRONMENT REFERENCE MISSION I A. Ginati I OHB-System GmbH Bremen, Germany J.Beeck I TZN Forschungs-und Entwicklungszentrum GmbH Unterlu~, Germany I H. Kunow University of Kiel I Kiel, Germany The paper discusses a small satellite mission that I was proposed to the European Space Agency (ESA) and to the German Space Agency (DARA). The idea is to support the Vlysses mission by conducting reference I measurements in the ecliptic plane. particularly during the time periods of Ulysses' polar passages. The scientific objectives, the instrumentation. and the impact on the Ulysses mission are discussed. The I mission scenario is described. the mission constraints are given, and a preliminary spacecraft I concept is shown. I 1. INTRODUCTION The proposal for PAFERM was submitted in due time to ESA. As a response ESA The Particles and Fields Environment received a total of 52 proposals. Quite I Reference Mission (PAFERM) is a result of obviously, the scientific community has a a response to a Call for Ideas that was pronounced interest in small missions. issued by the European Space Agency (ESA) This interest was conf irmed by a survey on 18 June 1990. This Call for Ideas was conducted by the Science Applications I initiated by a recommendation of the International Corporation; 91% of space Science Programme Review Team. The physicists surveyed believe that NASA recommendation was that small missions should plan more frequent smaller should be implemented into the science missions, even at the expense of large I programme. As a guideline for the missions /1/. scientific community some technical information on the characteristics of the The PAFERM mission is related to the small mission where given by the review Ulysses mission; the idea is to conduct team as follows. in-ecliptic reference measurements for I Ulysses. The period of utmost interest is total mass below 200 kg the time of the spacecraft· s passage of payload mass between 10 to 50 kg the polar regions of the Sun. Between stabilization, either spin or 3-axis June and October 1994 the heliographic I launcher: Scout II, Pegasus or Apex latitude of the spacecraft exceeds 70 orbit, low Earth or GTO degree; this south polar pass will be operations of about 1 year duration followed by a north polar pass between development time less than three June and September 1995. Therefore, the I years planned launch for PAFERM is dated April cost to ESA, ~etween 10 to 20 MAU 1994. I I I The evaluation process within the The general interplanetary structure is European Space Agency (ESA) will continue often disturbed by non-linear processes, on for some time. Subsequently, the like e.g. shocks. Large shocks are I PAFERM proposal was submitted to the initiated if plasma is ejected from the German Space Agency (DARA) and found corona at very high velocities of about considerable interest. At the time of the 1000 k:m/s upon solar flares or other writing of this paper, the evaluation dramatic, often explosion-like effects in process within ESA and DARA is still the corona. The average solar wind I going on. velocity is about 400 k:m/s. The high speed plasma is pushing the normal solar 2. SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND wind ahead and, as the velocity is above the speed of sound in the plasma, the I 2.1 Introduction ambient plasma is shocked similar to an explosion shock wave. At large distances all energy of the shock is used up to scientific aim of the Particle and Field accelerate the solar wind and the shock: I Environment Reference Mission (PAFERM) is dies out. to complement and support the scientif ic goals of the Ulysses mission, in particular of its polar passages. During I the past decade it has become evident, that. new fundamental results concerning 2.3 The Interplanetary Magnetic Field interplanetary particle and field physics as well as conclusions on solar or Solar wind and interplanetary magnetic galactic phenomena are only possible with field are intimately related due to the I sufficient accuracy if multi-spacecraft so called frozen-ion magnetic fields in measurements are used. the plasma. The general heliospheric magnetic field originates from the Sun I s surface field. While field lines are I drawn out into interplanetary space by 2.2 The Solar Wind the high electrical conductivity plasma flow of the solar wind, they also remain The solar wind originates from the very rooted within the photosphere. Therefore, I hot corona of the Sun. Some solar radii the investigation of the heliospheric away from the Sun, the solar wind is magnetic field is related to the stUdy of observed as a continous stream of hot solar magnetism, as well as to that of plasma reaching out far into the coronal structures and dynamics. Also, it I heliosphere. On average, it consists of is intimately related to the study of 95% hydrogen ions (protons), 4% helium interplanetary phenomena on all temporal ions (a-particles) and different ions of and spatial scales. other elements with an appropriate I charge-equalizing number of free While direct observations have covered a electrons. The velocity of the solar wind large range of heliocentric distances, varies widely, in general between about spacecraft orbits have been restricted to 300 k:m/s (slow solar wind streams) and the close vicinity of the ecliptic plane. I about 900 k:m/s (fast solar wind streams). Therefore, little is known with regard to the heliolatitude dependent topology of The radial expansion of the solar wind the interplanetary magnetic field. Remote determines the structure of the sensing of the solar surface field and of I interplanetary medium which is e.g. the corona indicates that it is important for propagation processes of impossible to extrapolate with sufficient energetic particles. The solar wind confidence from in-ecliptic measurements plasma flows radially away from the Sun, to the third dimension of the I carrying the solar magnetic field lines heliosphere. as frozen in fields out into space. The field lines generally, remain attached to Direct observations are therefore the solar surface. Its roots follow the necessary to provide an observational I rotation of the Sun, and consequently the basis for establishing the heliolatitude field lines in consecutive plasma volumes dependence of the heliospheric magnetic are forming an Archimedian spiral around field. These observations will be used to the Sun. investigate numerous phenomena of I Figure 1 displays the magnetic field in fundamental importance for our the plane of the solar equator and shows understanding of the heliosphere. a marked sector structure, extending into the plane of the ecliptic as well. The low-to-middle latitude regions of the I Regions with magnetic fields Sun are dominated by sunspots and active predominantly pointing towards the Sun regions. These regions are normally alter with regions of opposite direction. characterized by closed field lines in I I I the corona. Origin and characteristic The result is that there are at present features of the solar wind and the major discrepancies between theory and I magnetic fields over these regions are observations. As in the case of the solar completely unknown. The measurements of wind, we wish to study the particle Ulysses compared to PAFERM will help to behaviour at different heliographic resolve these questions. latitudes, Le. under a variety of different plasma conditions, primarily in I At high latitudes, magnetic field lines an effort to help delineate the various and solar wind flow are expected to processes involved. The changing become parallel. This will strongly configuration of the he1iospheric influence the stream-stream structure in magnetic field with latitude should give I the he1iosphere at high latitude. The rise to latitude variations in the nature investigation of their extent and of waves, shocks and other structures characteristics as a function of that affect energetic particles. he1io1atitude is very important and can I be studied by Ulysses and PAFERM together Solar energetic particles, i.e. energetic more reliable than with one spacecraft particles from the Sun are used as probes alone. to monitor the conditions and physics in the solar atmosphere. These particles I provide information on the chemical and isotopic composition of the solar 2.4 Energetic Particles atmosphere and also information on the transport and storage of particles in the I cosmic rays consist of electrons, strong magnetic fields of the corona. protons, helium nuclei, and some very Observations in the ecliptic plane are small contribution of nuclei of all other difficult to interpret since the chemical elements which propagate through particles can originate and propagate I space with very high velocities. The high through a variaty of different regions in velocities imply that the charged the corona, with the result that the particles have been accelerated in space composi tion and spectra that we observe very efficiently by electric fields. are the products of a complicated mixture I Meanwhile we know from many areas within of processes. the solar system that acceleration processes are typical for an extreme tenous plasma. A particle in a plasma of At different heliographic latitudes, the I one million degree has an energy of 86 mixture of processes involved is expected eVe 'Energetic' particles are those which to be different, and perhaps simpler. have energies well above the thermal Ulysses will enable us to make energy of the plasma, e.g. above 50 keV observations of solar particles directly and up to several GeV. over active regions, which are I predominantly found at moderate solar latitudes, or directly over the It is known since 40 years that the Sun magnetically open regions in coronal is able to accelerate particles, although holes.