J. H. Westlake, R. L. McNutt, J. C. Kasper, C. Battista, A. W. Case, C. Cochrane, M. Grey, X. Jia, M. Kivelson, C. Kim, H. Korth, K. K. Khurana, N. Krupp, C. S. Paty, E. Roussos, A. M. Rymer, M. L. Stevens, J. A. Slavin, H. T. Smith, J. Saur, D. Coren
{"title":"The Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) on the Europa Clipper Mission","authors":"J. H. Westlake, R. L. McNutt, J. C. Kasper, C. Battista, A. W. Case, C. Cochrane, M. Grey, X. Jia, M. Kivelson, C. Kim, H. Korth, K. K. Khurana, N. Krupp, C. S. Paty, E. Roussos, A. M. Rymer, M. L. Stevens, J. A. Slavin, H. T. Smith, J. Saur, D. Coren","doi":"10.1007/s11214-023-01002-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Characterizing Europa’s subsurface ocean is essential for assessing Europa’s habitability. The suite of instruments on the Europa Clipper spacecraft will, among others, magnetically sound Europa’s interior by measuring the ocean’s induced magnetic field. This magnetic field is generated in response to the Jovian time-varying magnetic environment in which Europa is immersed. However, the dynamic magnetized plasma flow of the Jovian magnetosphere creates electrical currents that give rise to magnetic perturbations near Europa. These perturbations complicate the interpretation of the induction signal, and hence the characterization and inferences on potential habitability. Thus, characterization of the ocean by magnetic sounding requires an accurate characterization of the plasma as it flows across Europa. We present the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS), the instrument for the Europa Clipper mission that will measure the plasma contribution to the magnetic field perturbations sensed by the Europa Clipper Magnetometer. PIMS is composed of four Faraday Cup plasma spectrometers that use voltage-biased gridded apertures to dissect the space plasmas that they encounter. The instrument uses sensitive preamplifiers and processing electronics to measure the current that results when charged particles strike the instrument’s metal collector plates, thus enabling a measure of the plasma characteristics near Europa to produce a more accurate magnetic sounding of Europa’s subsurface ocean. PIMS consists of two sensors: one placed near the top of the Europa Clipper spacecraft and one near the bottom. Each sensor contains two Faraday Cups with a 90° full-width field-of-view. The sensors were specifically designed to withstand the Europa environment, measure both ions and electrons, and have two separate voltage ranges intended to analyze the magnetospheric and ionospheric environments, respectively. In this paper, we describe the scientific motivation for this experiment, the design considerations for the PIMS instrument, the details of the ground calibration, and other details pertinent to understanding the scientific data retrieved by PIMS.","PeriodicalId":21902,"journal":{"name":"Space Science Reviews","volume":"235 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Space Science Reviews","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-023-01002-9","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract Characterizing Europa’s subsurface ocean is essential for assessing Europa’s habitability. The suite of instruments on the Europa Clipper spacecraft will, among others, magnetically sound Europa’s interior by measuring the ocean’s induced magnetic field. This magnetic field is generated in response to the Jovian time-varying magnetic environment in which Europa is immersed. However, the dynamic magnetized plasma flow of the Jovian magnetosphere creates electrical currents that give rise to magnetic perturbations near Europa. These perturbations complicate the interpretation of the induction signal, and hence the characterization and inferences on potential habitability. Thus, characterization of the ocean by magnetic sounding requires an accurate characterization of the plasma as it flows across Europa. We present the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS), the instrument for the Europa Clipper mission that will measure the plasma contribution to the magnetic field perturbations sensed by the Europa Clipper Magnetometer. PIMS is composed of four Faraday Cup plasma spectrometers that use voltage-biased gridded apertures to dissect the space plasmas that they encounter. The instrument uses sensitive preamplifiers and processing electronics to measure the current that results when charged particles strike the instrument’s metal collector plates, thus enabling a measure of the plasma characteristics near Europa to produce a more accurate magnetic sounding of Europa’s subsurface ocean. PIMS consists of two sensors: one placed near the top of the Europa Clipper spacecraft and one near the bottom. Each sensor contains two Faraday Cups with a 90° full-width field-of-view. The sensors were specifically designed to withstand the Europa environment, measure both ions and electrons, and have two separate voltage ranges intended to analyze the magnetospheric and ionospheric environments, respectively. In this paper, we describe the scientific motivation for this experiment, the design considerations for the PIMS instrument, the details of the ground calibration, and other details pertinent to understanding the scientific data retrieved by PIMS.
期刊介绍:
Space Science Reviews (SSRv) stands as an international journal dedicated to scientific space research, offering a contemporary synthesis across various branches of space exploration. Emphasizing scientific outcomes and instruments, SSRv spans astrophysics, physics of planetary systems, solar physics, and the physics of magnetospheres & interplanetary matter.
Beyond Topical Collections and invited Review Articles, Space Science Reviews welcomes unsolicited Review Articles and Special Communications. The latter encompass papers related to a prior topical volume/collection, report-type papers, or timely contributions addressing a robust combination of space science and technology. These papers succinctly summarize both the science and technology aspects of instruments or missions in a single publication.