NASA Logo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Space Science Data Center Header

Magnetometer (MAG)

NSSDC ID: 1985-056A-07
Mission Name: Giotto
Principal Investigator: Prof. Fritz M. Neubauer

Description

The purpose of this investigation is to study the interplanetary and induced cometary magnetic fields before and during the encounter with Comet Halley. The instrument consists of a main triaxial fluxgate magnetometer system mounted on top of a tripod on the spacecraft. In a 12-bit analog-to-digital conversion the dynamical ranges are plus and minus 16, 64, 256, 1024, 4096, 16384, and 65536 nT with automatic range switching. An inner biaxial magnetometer system is used for correcting the spacecraft magnetic field. During the encounter the sampling rate will be approximately 28 vectors per second, while the spacecraft spin rate is 15 rpm.

Alternate Names

  • MAG

Facts in Brief

Mass: 1.36 kg
Power (avg): 0.8 W
Bit rate (avg): 1.265 bps

Funding Agencies

  • NASA-Office of Space Science (United States)
  • National Research Council-Italian Space Commission (Italy)

Disciplines

  • Planetary Science: Small Bodies
  • Space Physics: Heliospheric Studies

Additional Information

Questions or comments about this experiment can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams.

 

Personnel

NameRoleOriginal AffiliationE-mail
Dr. Mario H. AcunaCo-InvestigatorNASA Goddard Space Flight Center 
Prof. Franco MarianiCo-InvestigatorUniversita degli Studi di Romamariani@roma2.infn.it
Dr. Guenter MusmannCo-InvestigatorTechnische Universitat Braunschweigg.musmann@tu-braunschweig.de
Dr. Norman F. NessCo-InvestigatorNASA Goddard Space Flight Centernfness@bartol.udel.edu
Prof. Fritz M. NeubauerGeneral ContactUniversitat zu Kolnneubauer@geo.uni-koeln.de
Dr. Hermann Ulrich SchmidtCo-InvestigatorMax-Planck-Institut fur Physik und Astrophysikschmidt@mpa-garching.mpg.de
Dr. Eigil UngstrupCo-InvestigatorDanish Space Research Instituteeu@osiris.gfy.ku.dk
Dr. Leonard F. BurlagaCo-InvestigatorNASA Goddard Space Flight Centeru2leb@lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov
Dr. Max K. WallisCo-InvestigatorUniversity College, Cardiffmkw@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk

Selected References

Neubauer, F. M., Ionopause transition and boundary layers at comet Halley from Giotto magnetic field observations, J. Geophys. Res., 93, No. A7, 7272-7281, July 1988.

Neubauer, F. M., et al., The Giotto magnetic-field investigation, In--The Giotto Mission--Its Scientific Investigations, ESA SP-1077, edited by R. Reinhard and B. Battrick, pp. 1-14, Mar. 1986.

Wagner, B., and F. M. Neubauer, Modeling the magnetic signature of impact-generated plasma clouds, J. Geophys. Res., 97, No. A6, 8157-8168, June 1992.

Neubauer, F. M., et al., First results from the Giotto magnetometer experiment at comet Halley, Nature, 321, No. 6067, 352-354, May 1986.

[USA.gov] NASA Logo - nasa.gov