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Energetic Particles and Ion Composition (EPIC)

NSSDC ID: 1992-044A-03
Mission Name: Geotail
Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard W. McEntire

Description

The principal objective of the EPIC (energetic particle and ion composition) investigation is to explore the distant magnetotail region and obtain information on the origin, transport, storage, acceleration and dynamics of suprathermal and non-thermal particle populations. The instrument performs three-dimensional distribution measurements by using both total energy (LEMS -- low energy composition system) and velocity/composition detectors (ICS - ion composition system), measuring ions and electrons with energies >20 keV, and ions with energy >8 keV/nucleon, respectively. Composition measurements are made by using a thin foil time-of-flight technique which resolves the H and He isotopes, and provides elemental resolution up to approximately argon. The instrument also measures the non-thermal components to 6 MeV for protons, 480 keV for electrons, and 400 keV/nucleon for ions with Z>2. Directional measurements with a time resolution <1 s are possible.

Facts in Brief

Mass: 21.9 kg
Power (avg): 14.6 W
Bit rate (avg): 2.56 bps

Funding Agency

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (United States)

Discipline

  • Space Physics: Magnetospheric Studies

Additional Information

Questions or comments about this experiment can be directed to: Dr. Ramona L. Kessel.

 

Personnel

Name Role Original Affiliation E-mail
Dr. Richard W. McEntire Principal Investigator Applied Physics Laboratory richard.mcentire@jhuapl.edu
Dr. Louis J. Lanzerotti Co-Investigator AT&T Bell Laboratories ljl@bell-labs.com
Dr. Thomas P. Armstrong Co-Investigator University of Kansas armstrong@ftecs.com
Prof. George Gloeckler Co-Investigator University of Kansas gg10@umail.umd.edu
Dr. Stamatios M. Krimigis Co-Investigator Applied Physics Laboratory tom.krimigis@jhuapl.edu
Dr. Edward C. Roelof Co-Investigator Applied Physics Laboratory edmond.roelof@jhuapl.edu
Dr. Ching I. Meng Co-Investigator Applied Physics Laboratory suther@jhuapl.jhu.edu
Dr. Robert E. Gold Co-Investigator Applied Physics Laboratory robert.gold@jhuapl.edu
Dr. Anthony T.Y. Lui Co-Investigator Applied Physics Laboratory anthony.lui@jhuapl.edu
Dr. Fred M. Ipavich Co-Investigator University of Maryland ipavich@umdsp.umd.edu
Prof. Emmanuel T. Sarris Co-Investigator University of Thrace sarris@xanthi.cc.duth.gr
Dr. Fritz O. Gliem Co-Investigator Technische Universitat Braunschweig  

Selected References

Williams, D. J., et al., Energetic particle and ion composition instrument (EPIC), In--Geotail Prelaunch Report, SES-TD-92-007SY, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, SES Data Center, pp. 157-178, Apr. 1992.

Nishida, A., et al., Geotail mission to explore earth's magnetotail, EOS, 73, No. 40, Oct. 1992.

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