Wiggins, Ronaldo (2012) Space probes and missions of the European Space Agency. University Publications, Delhi, India. ISBN 9788132336655
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Abstract
The Cluster mission is a European Space Agency/NASA unmanned space mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere using four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation. The first four Cluster spacecraft were lost in the Ariane 5 flight failure on June 4, 1996, leading to the construction of four new spacecraft and their successful launching in 2000 on Soyuz-Fregat rockets. Cluster operated alongside China National Space Administration/ESA's joint Double Star mission from 2003 to 2007. The four identical Cluster satellites study the impact of the Sun's activity on the Earth's space environment by flying in formation around Earth. For the first time in space history, this mission is able to collect three-dimensional information on how the solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere and affects near-Earth space and its atmosphere, including aurorae. The satellites are named Rumba Salsa , Samba and Tango but are more commonly called Cluster 1, Cluster 2 , Cluster 3 and Cluster 4 or even C1, C2, C3 and C4 . The spacecraft are cylindrical and are spin-stabilized at 15 rotations per minute. After launch, their solar cells provided 224 watts power for instruments and communications. The four spacecraft maneuver into various tetrahedral formations to study the magnetospheric structure and boundaries. The inter-spacecraft distances can be varied from around 17 to 10,000 kilometers (km). The propellant for the maneuvers makes up approximately half of the spacecraft's launch weight. The highly elliptical orbits of the spacecraft reach a perigee of around 4 Re (Earth radii, where I Re = 6371 km ) and an apogee of 19.6 Re. Each orbit takes approximately 57 hours to complete. The European Space Operations Center (ESOC) acquires telemetry and distributes the science data from the spacecraft online.
| Item Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | T Technology > TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics |
| Divisions: | Electronic Books |
| Depositing User: | Esam @ Hisham Muhammad |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Nov 2022 08:58 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Nov 2022 08:58 |
| URI: | http://odlsystem2.utm.my/id/eprint/3636 |
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