| Name |
ASPOC, active spacecraft potential control experiment |
| Mission |
Double Star |
| URL |
https://csa.esac.esa.int/csa-web/#search |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-q4hhm3u |
| Abstract |
The spacecraft potential of Double Star TC-1 is positive in large parts of the orbits due to the photo-effect from solar EUV irradiation. These positive potentials typically disturb low energy plasma measurements on board. The potential can be reduced, and thereby the particle measurements improved, by emitting a positive ion beam. This method has successfully been applied on several other spacecraft and it has also been chosen for TC-1. The instrument TC-1/ASPOC is a derivative of the Cluster/ASPOC instruments, from which it has inherited many features. The instrument performs very well and can support higher beam currents than on Cluster. The expected significant improvement of the low energy particle measurements on board was indeed observed. |
| Description |
ASPOC scientific datasets
| Dataset ID | Dataset content |
| D1_PP_ASP | Emitted current, spin resolution, TC-1 |
| D1_SP_ASP | Emitted current, 1 minute average, TC-1 |
|
| Publication |
Torkar, K., et al., Spacecraft potential control for Double Star, Ann. Geophys., 23, 2813-2823, 2005; https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-2813-2005 |
| Temporal Coverage |
2003-12-29T19:06:00.000Z - 2009-12-31T23:59:59.000Z |
| Mission Description |
The Double Star Program (DSP) is the first mission in collaboration between China and ESA. The mission is made of two spacecraft to investigate the magnetospheric global processes and their response to the interplanetary disturbances in conjunction with the Cluster mission. The first spacecraft, TC-1 (Tan Ce means "Explorer"), was launched on 29 December 2003, and the second one, TC-2, on 25 July 2004 on board two Chinese Long March 2C rockets. TC-1 was injected in an equatorial orbit of 570x79000 km altitude with a 28° inclination and TC-2 in a polar orbit of 560x38000 km altitude. The orbits have been designed to complement the Cluster mission by maximizing the time when both Cluster and Double Star are in the same scientific regions. The two missions allow simultaneous observations of the Earth magnetosphere from six points in space. To facilitate the comparison of data, half of the Double Star payload is made of spare or duplicates of the Cluster instruments; the other half is made of Chinese instruments.
Liu, Z.X., C.P. Escoubet, Z. Pu, H. Laakso, J.K. Shi, C. Shen, M. Hapgood, The Double Star Mission, Ann. Geophys., 23, 2707-2712, 2005; https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-2707-2005 |
| Creator Contact |
Klaus Torkar, Principal Investigator, Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria, Klaus.Torkar@oeaw.ac.at |
| Publisher And Registrant |
European Space Agency |
| Credit Guidelines |
When publishing any works related to this experiment, please cite the experiment DOI found herein and mission DOI (where appropriate). |
