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Ann. Geophys., 19, 589-592, 2001
www.ann-geophys.net/19/589/2001/
© European Geosciences Union 2001
Astrid-2, an advanced microsatellite for auroral research
G. T. Marklund1, L. G. Blomberg1, and S. Persson2
1Alfvén Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology, SE 10044 Stockholm, Sweden
2Swedish Space Corporation, Solna, Sweden
Abstract. The successful launch of
the Swedish microsatellite Astrid-2 in December 1998 began a new era of auroral
research, with advanced microprobes of 30 kg or less used as research tools.
Innovative technologies and low-mass solutions were used for the sensors and
deployment systems to allow a fairly complete set of scientific instruments
within the 10 kg allocated for the scientific payload. A newly developed wire
boom deployment system proved to function excellently. During its seven month
lifetime Astrid-2 collected more than 26 Gbytes of high-quality data of auroral
electric and magnetic fields, and auroral particle and plasma characteristics
from approximately 3000 orbits at an inclination of 83° and an altitude of
about 1000 km. Scientific results cover a broad range of topics, from the
physics of energization of auroral particles to how the magnetosphere responds
to the energy input from the solar wind and global magnetic field modelling.
The fulfilment of both the technological and the scientific mission objectives
has opened entirely new possibilities to carry out low-budget multipoint
measurements in near-Earth space.
Key words. Ionosphere (auroral
ionosphere; instruments and techniques) – Magnetospheric physics (auroral
phenomena)
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