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sphere as the solar wind is deflected, polar Active Spacecraft Potential Control
cusp regions of the magnetic field and (ASPOC) – reduces the electric charge on
temporal and spatial structure of the dense the spacecraft, so very low-speed elec-
plasma in the center of the tail of the mag- trons can be measured.
netosphere on Earth’s night side called the
plasma sheet. Cluster Ion Spectrometry (CIS) –
measures the relative abundance of pro-
The Cluster II fleet will be launched tons and helium nuclei and determines
in pairs into a polar orbit from the Russian their three-dimensional distribution in the
Aviation and Space Agency Cosmodrome, solar wind and magnetosphere.
Baikonur, Kazakhstan, aboard two Soyuz-
Fregat rockets. The launches, which Digital Wave Processor (DWP) –
feature a four-minute window, are sched- provides data processing for the plasma
uled for July and August 2000. The space- wave instruments.
crafts' intended apogee (farthest point
from the Earth) will be about 74,000 miles Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) –
(119,091 kilometers) and its perigee determines the strength and direction of
(closest point) will be about 12,000 miles the ambient electric field.
(19,312 kilometers).
Electric Fields and Waves (EFW) –
Each Cluster II spacecraft is cylindri- measures fluctuating electric fields in the
cally-shaped, measuring 9.5 feet (2.9 plasma surrounding the spacecraft.
meters) in diameter and 4.3 feet
(1.3 meters) high, and weighs about 1,213 Fluxgate Magnetometer (FGM) –
pounds (550 kilograms). An additional measures static and fluctuating magnetic
1,430 pounds (649 kilograms) of fuel is fields at the spacecraft.
included for orbital maneuvering. To main-
tain a stable orientation in space, each Plasma Electron and Current Experi-
spacecraft will spin like a slow gyroscope, ment (PEACE) – provides three-dimen-
making one complete revolution every four sional measurements of electron
seconds. distributions in the solar wind and mag-
netosphere.