Magnetic field of Mars: Summary of results from the aerobraking and mapping orbits

Acuña, M. H.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Wasilewski, P. J.; Lin, R. P.; Mitchell, D. L.; Anderson, K. A.; Carlson, C. W.; McFadden, J. P.; Rème, H.; Mazelle, C.; Vignes, D.; Bauer, S. J.; Cloutier, P. A.; Ness, N. F.

doi:10.1029/2000je001404

Cited by 317 publications

(246 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Alternatively, they may be accommodated at the outer extremity of the solar arrays, taking advantage of an essential appendage that also deploys post-launch. MAVEN took the latter approach, much as its predecessor Mars Global Surveyor did (Acuña et al 2001). In typical implementations, a pair of magnetic sensors ("dual magnetometer technique") provides hardware redundancy as well as a capability to detect magnetic fields at two locations on the spacecraft.…”

Section: Investigation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, early Mars did have an Earth-like magnetic field of sufficient strength to shelter the atmosphere from the solar wind (Acuña et al 1998(Acuña et al , 2001). So it is tempting to speculate that a warm and dense Mars atmosphere existed within the protection afforded by an early Mars dynamo, and the demise of the dynamo, some 4 billion years ago, exposed the atmosphere to stripping by the solar wind.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

et al. 2015

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The MAVEN magnetic field investigation is part of a comprehensive particles and fields subsystem that will measure the magnetic and electric fields and plasma environment of Mars and its interaction with the solar wind. The magnetic field instrumentation consists of two independent tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer sensors, remotely mounted at the outer extremity of the two solar arrays on small extensions ("boomlets"). The sensors are controlled by independent and functionally identical electronics assemblies that are integrated within the particles and fields subsystem and draw their power from redundant power supplies within that system. Each magnetometer measures the ambient vector magnetic field over a wide dynamic range (to 65,536 nT per axis) with a resolution of 0.008 nT in the most sensitive dynamic range and an accuracy of better than 0.05 %. Both magnetometers sample the ambient magnetic field at an intrinsic sample rate of 32 vector samples per second. Telemetry is transferred from each magnetometer to the particles and fields package once per second and subsequently passed to the spacecraft after some reformatting. The magnetic field data volume may be reduced by averaging and decimation, when necessary to meet telemetry allocations, and application of data compression, utilizing a lossless 8-bit differencing scheme. The MAVEN magnetic field experiment may be reconfigured in flight to meet unanticipated needs and is fully hardware redundant. A spacecraft magnetic control program was implemented to provide a magnetically clean environment for the magnetic sensors and the MAVEN mission plan provides for occasional spacecraft maneuversmultiple rotations about the spacecraft x and z axes-to characterize spacecraft fields and/or instrument offsets in flight.

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Section: Investigation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

et al. 2015

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“…Magnetic field measurements have an uncertainty of ±1 nT due to spacecraft fields [Acuña et al, 2001]. The spacecraft did not carry any instruments dedicated to measure ion properties.…”

Section: Instrument Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hereafter, we denote the angle between any magnetic field measurement and the X DRAP axis as . Since the spacecraft magnetic field intensity has an upper limit of 1 nT at the location of the MAG sensors [Acuña et al, 2001], the maximum deviation of due to this artifact is Δ = ± acos[…”

Section: Different States Of the Magnetized Sw: The Drap Coordinate Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Dependence of the location of the Martian magnetic lobes on the interplanetary magnetic field direction: Observations from Mars Global Surveyor

et al. 2015

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We use magnetometer data from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft during portions of the premapping orbits of the mission to study the variability of the Martian‐induced magnetotail as a function of the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The time spent by MGS in the magnetotail lobes during periods with positive solar wind flow‐aligned IMF component suggests that their location as well as the position of the central polarity reversal layer (PRL) are displaced in the direction antiparallel to the IMF cross‐flow component . Analogously, in the cases where is negative, the lobes are displaced in the direction of . This behavior is compatible with a previously published analytical model of the IMF draping, where for the first time, the displacement of a complementary reversal layer (denoted as IPRL for inverse polarity reversal layer) is deduced from first principles.

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“…Contact was lost with MGS on 2 November 2006, and the mission concluded shortly thereafter. Onboard MGS, the MAG/ER instrument consisted of a 3-axis fluxgate magnetometer (MAG) combined with the ER, a top-hat style electrostatic plasma analyzer [Acuña et al, 1999[Acuña et al, , 2001Carlson and McFadden, 1998]. The MAG instrument was designed to study in situ magnetic fields arising from Mars-solar wind interactions and any intrinsic or crustal magnetization, while the ER was designed to study the Martian ionosphere, the interaction of Mars with the solar wind, and to perform remote sensing of magnetic fields via the electron reflection technique [Mitchell et al, 2001].…”

Section: The Mgs Mission and Er Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energetic particles detected by the Electron Reflectometer instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor, 1999–2006

et al. 2012

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[1] We report the observation of galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles by the Electron Reflectometer instrument aboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft from May of 1999 to the mission conclusion in November 2006. Originally designed to detect low-energy electrons, the Electron Reflectometer also measured particles with energies >30 MeV that penetrated the aluminum housing of the instrument and were detected directly by microchannel plates in the instrument interior. Using a combination of theoretical and experimental results, we show how the Electron Reflectometer microchannel plates recorded high energy galactic cosmic rays with $45% efficiency. Comparisons of this data to galactic cosmic ray proton fluxes obtained from the Advanced Composition Explorer yield agreement to within 10% and reveal the expected solar cycle modulation as well as shorter timescale variations. Solar energetic particles were detected by the same mechanism as galactic cosmic rays; however, their flux levels are far more uncertain due to shielding effects and the energy-dependent response of the microchannel plates. Using the solar energetic particle data, we have developed a catalog of energetic particle events at Mars associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which includes the identification of interplanetary shocks. MGS observations of energetic particles at varying geometries between the Earth and Mars that include shocks produced by halo, limb, and backsided events provide a unique data set for use by the heliophysics modeling community.

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Magnetic field of Mars: Summary of results from the aerobraking and mapping orbits

Cited by 317 publications

References 35 publications

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

Dependence of the location of the Martian magnetic lobes on the interplanetary magnetic field direction: Observations from Mars Global Surveyor

Energetic particles detected by the Electron Reflectometer instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor, 1999–2006

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