Fast Plasma Instrument- FPI

by Edward Diaz

FPIs Mission

The Fast Plasma Instruments role in the Magnetospheric Multiscale-(MMS) mission is to take high resolution, 11 degree electron plasma velocity distributions every 25 milliseconds. These observations or recordings are of a specific area inbetween the four MMS spacecraft, taken approxmently less than 30ms apart. Four full sky, medium resolution 45 degree distributions will be taken by the spacecraft for every 6 milliseconds. The MMS spacecraft will be able to record observations for up to 16 minutes of high time reslolution data during each orbit. Each of the four MMS spacecraft will downlink the data sequences for the FPI to analyze. The analyzers are packed as four Duel Electron Spectrometers and Four Duel Ion Spectrometers.

What the FPI Hopes to Solve

The recorded information from the MMS mission will hopefully resolve some problems and provide unprecedented infromation on electron and ion scale dynamics in the reconnection diffusion. The approach used in dsigning the four MMS spacecraft with the FPI will provide an instantanious full-sky view that is independent from the spin of the spacecraft.

The FPI Team

Adamczyk, Deanna J. , Adrian, Mark L. , Bialas, Thomas G. , Buenfil, Manuel , Chandler, Mike , Chornay, Dennis , Coates, Andrew , Coffey, Victoria , Collier, Michael R. , Ericsson Aprille J. , v , Gonzalez, Oscar , Hymer, Daniel C. , Johnson, Michael A. , Linder, David , Lobell, James V. , Magruder Patricia A. , McGrath, Michael E. , Moore Thomas E. , Mukai, Toshifumi , Rozmarynowski Paul S , Ruitberg Arthur , Saito, Yoshifumi , Swinski Joseph-Paul A.

Fast Plasma Instrument News and Information



Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer - HPCA
The Hot Plasma Composition Analyer (HPCA) is designed to investigate magnetic recconection as part of the MMS mission. The HPCA combines an Electrostatic energy analyzer -(ESA) with a time of flight mass analyzer- or (TOF). This enables HPCA to obtain an exceptionaly high dynamic range needed to study space plasma. A novel radio-frequency mass filters into the ESA and the TOF corrects for path-length variations and improves mass resolution.

HPCAs Obstacles

The HPCA was specialy and carefuly designed to preform under difficult mission constraints to preform high-quality multipoint measurements in the diffusion region assosicated with magnetic recconection. Difficult obstacles challenged the HPCA, dealing with problems dirriving from the fact that each of the four spacecraft holds only one HPCA and are constantly spinning, allowing only algular sampling. Other challenging obstacles in cluded being able to take very rapid measurements wile still being able to differentiate tiny ammounts of oxygen ions from the plasma particles surrounding earths magnetosphere.

Info About the HPCA and MMS/SMART



Abreviations

  • FPI-Fast Plasma Instrument
  • MMS-Magetospheric Multiscale
  • MS-MilliSecond
  • HPCA-Hot Plsama Composition Analyzer
  • ESA-Electrostatic energy Analyzer
  • TOF-Time Of Flight
  • SMART-Solving Magnetospheric Acceleration, Recconection, and Turbulence