Alfven
Magnetosphere-Ionosphere
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Auroral Missions
Current Missions
Cluster: first multi-spacecraft auroral observations (2008- present)
- The auroral observations are serendipitous, due to the evolution of the Cluster orbit and the extension of the mission lifetime.
- The instrumentation and spacecraft configuration are not optimised for auroral science, but the mission is pioneering observations, showing the need for a dedicated mission.
- Summary plots for the Auroral Acceleration Region campaigns are available here.
Reimei (2005 - present)
- Single spacecraft combining plasma instrumentation and multi-spectral imagers: details here
Completed Missions
Munin (Sweden: 2000-1) 1,965 x 707 km; 98 deg. inc.
- Single nano-satellite; very small plasma particle instrumentation, miniature CCD camera
FAST (USA: 1996-200?) 4300 x 350 km; 83 deg inc.
- Single spacecraft carrying plasma instrumentation including 3D electric field
- First mission with very high time resolution particle data
Interball Auroral Probe (CIS, 1996-9?) 19,200 x 774 km, 63 deg. inc.
Astrid-1 (Sweden: 1995) 1,026 x 966 km; 83 deg. inc.
- Single microsatellite carrying ENA analyser, UV imager and electron spectrometer
Freja (Sweden: 1992 -5) 1,756 x 600 km; 63 deg. inc.
- Single spacecraft combining plasma instrumentation, and auroral imager
Akebono (Japan: 1989-?) 10,500x270 km; 75 deg. inc.
- Single spacecraft combining plasma instrumentation and UV & Visible imagers
Viking (Sweden: 1986-7) 13,530 x 817 km; 99 deg. inc.
- Single spacecraft combining plasma instrumentation and UV imager
08 October 2010
Andrew Fazakerley
anf [at] mssl.ucl.ac.uk
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