First results from the Energetic Particle Detector Investigation on the MMS Mission
Friday, October 2, 2015: 4:20 PM
Barry Mauk1, Joseph H Westlake2, Patrick A. Hill1, Stephen E. Jaskulek1, Ryan T. Hacala1, Lawrence E Brown1, Charles E Schlemm1, J Bernard Blake3, J. F. Fennell4, James H Clemmons5, Daniel N. Baker6, James V. Craft6, Allison N Jaynes7, Reeves Geoffrey8, Harlan E. Spence9, James L Burch10, Roy B Torbert11, Thomas Earle Moore12, Barbara L Giles13, Craig J Pollock13, Stephen A Fuselier10 and Rumi Nakamura14, (1)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (2)JHUAPL, Laurel, MD, United States, (3)Aerospace Corporation Santa Monica, Santa Monica, CA, United States, (4)Aerospace Corporation Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (5)Aerospace Corporation Pasadena, Pasadena, CA, United States, (6)University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (7)University of Colorado at Boulder, LASP, Boulder, CO, United States, (8)Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States, (9)University of New Hampshire Main Campus, Space Science Center, Durham, NH, United States, (10)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (11)Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (12)NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (13)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (14)Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Abstract:
The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, launched on 13 March 2015, comprises 4 spacecraft flying in close formation in highly elliptical, near-Earth-equatorial orbits targeting understanding of the fundamental physics of the important physical process called magnetic reconnection using Earth’s magnetosphere as a plasma laboratory. The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) Investigation on MMS is one of 5 fields-and-particles investigations. EPD comprises two sensor types, the Energetic Ion Spectrometer (EIS) with one instrument on each of the 4 spacecraft, and the Fly’s Eye Energetic Particle Spectrometer (FEEPS) with 2 instruments on each of the 4 spacecraft. EIS measures energetic ion energy, angle and elemental compositional distributions from a required low energy limit of 20 keV for protons and 45 keV for oxygen ions, up to > 0.5 MeV (with capabilities to measure up to > 1 MeV). FEEPS measures instantaneous all sky images of energetic electrons from 25 keV to > 0.5 MeVand also measures total ion energy distributions from 45 keV to > 0.5 MeV to be used in conjunction with EIS to measure all sky ion distributions. Measurements obtained by EPD to date of dipolarization fronts and injections in the tail with strongly anisotropic particle distributions and boundary structures hold great promise for robust contributions of the EPD investigation in resolving mysteries about reconnection-induced particle acceleration and structuring. Preliminary results from the initial magnetopause phase of the mission are presented.
