NSSDCA ID: 1962-041A-03
Mission Name: Mariner 2This experiment was designed to measure the magnitude and direction of the interplanetary and Cytherean magnetic fields. It consisted of three orthogonal fluxgate magnetometers mounted on top of a 152.4 m tower. One magnetometer axis was parallel to the spacecraft roll axis. In the high-sensitivity mode, each magnetometer had a dynamic range of +/-64 nT with an accuracy of +/-0.5 nT. In the low-sensitivity mode, this range was +/-320 nT with an accuracy of +/-2.5 nT. All three magnetometers were sampled within 8.64 s, and this sequence of sampling was repeated every 36.96 s (every 20.16 s during the Venus encounter on December 14, 1962). An in-flight calibration system was designed to check the sensitivity of the three magnetometers once during each 15.77 hour period. Due to a failure in the control circuit, in-flight calibrations were performed more often and in a random fashion. Other than the failure in the in-flight calibration system, the experiment performed normally until January 3, 1963, when contact with Mariner 2 was lost.
Mass: 2.177 kg
Power (avg): 6 W
Bit rate (avg): 0.00833 kbps
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Charles P. Sonett | Co-Investigator | University of Arizona | |
Dr. Edward J. Smith | Co-Investigator | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | edward.j.smith@jpl.nasa.gov |
Dr. Leverett Davis, Jr. | Co-Investigator | California Institute of Technology |