RBSP-A

Spacecraft nr:

US spacecraft nr:

Launch data: Designation  38752 / 12046A Launch date  30 Aug 2012 - 08:05 UT Launch site  CC, SLC-41 Launch vehicle  Atlas-5/401 (AV-032) Mission  Govern: Science, Magnetospheric Research Elliptical Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  591 x 30534 km Eccentricity  6,83E-01 Inclination  10.03 deg Period  539.06 min

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  NASA JHU/APL Platform   Operator  NASA JHU/APL Mass at launch  658 kg (full) Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array  4 deployable fixed solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power   Design lifetime  2 yrs - still active

Each of the two Storm Probes is bristling with sensors to count energetic particles, measure plasma waves, and detect electromagnetic radiation.

Description:

• The RBSP (Radiation Belt Storm Probes) Mission, part of NASA's Living With a Star program, will provide unprecedented insight into the physical dynamics of the radiation belts and give scientists the data they need to make predictions of changes in this critical region of space
• The two spacecraft will measure the particles, magnetic and electric fields, and waves that fill geospace. Only with two spacecraft taking identical measurements and following the same path, can scientists begin to understand how the belts change in both space and time.
• The RBSP spacecraft will carry a number of instruments and instrument suites to support five experiments that will address the mission's science objectives. Because it is vital that the two craft make identical measurements to observe changes in the radiation belts through both space and time, each probe will carry the following instruments:
  • Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT)
  • Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS)
  • Electric Field and Waves Suite (EFW)
  • Radiation Belt Storm Probes Ion Composition Experiment (RBSPICE)
  • Relativistic Proton Spectrometer (RPS)
• The almost-identical RBSP satellites have a mass of 658 kg full, and will deploy a series of booms include electric field antennae spanning 100 meters. The instruments study energetic particles, thermal plasma, ionospheric composition and electromagnetic fields and waves.
  The principal investigator for one experiment, the relativistic proton spectrometer, is at the National Reconnaissance Office, and NRO put out a press release explaining why operational agencies care about good radiation belt models too.
• The hardy RBSP satellites will spend the next 2 years looping through every part of both Van Allen belts. By having two spacecraft in different regions of the belts at the same time, scientists finally will be able to gather data from within the belts themselves, learning how they change over space and time. Designers fortified RBSP with special protective plating and rugged electronics to operate and survive within this punishing region of space that other spacecraft avoid. In addition, a space weather broadcast will transmit selected data from those instruments around the clock, giving researchers a check on current conditions near Earth
• RBSP is the second mission in NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) program to explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. APL built the RBSP spacecraft and will manage the mission for NASA. NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management. United Launch Alliance provided the Atlas V launch service.

Mission details:

• RBSP was lifted into orbit aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41, as the rocket's plume lit the dark skies over the Florida coast. Atlas V's Centaur AV-032 entered a 167 x 600 km x 25.5 deg parking orbit at 0819 UTC, and a second burn at 0915 UTC raised the orbit and lowered inclination for deployment of RBSP-A in a 597 x 30645 km x 10.0 deg orbit at 0924 UTC. Mission controllers using APL's 60-foot satellite dish will establish radio contact with each probe immediately after separation.
• During the next 60 days, operators will power up all flight systems and science instruments and deploy long antenna booms, two of which are more than 54 yards long. Data about the particles that swirl through the belts, and the fields and waves that transport them, will be gathered by five instrument suites designed and operated by teams at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark; the University of Iowa in Iowa City; University of Minnesota in Minneapolis; and the University of New Hampshire in Durham; and the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Va. The data will be analyzed by scientists across the nation almost immediately.