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MESSENGER and Venus Express Observations of the Solar Wind Interaction with Venus: A Dual Spacecraft StudyAt 23:08 UT on 5 June 2007 the MESSENGER spacecraft reached its closest approach altitude (338 krn) during its second flyby of Venus en route to its 201 1 orbit insertion at Mercury. Whereas no measurements were collected during MESSENGER'S first Venus flyby in October 2006, the Magnetometer (MAG) and the Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer (EPPS) operated successfully throughout this second encounter. Venus provides the solar system's best example to date of a solar wind - ionosphere planetary interaction. Pioneer Venus Orbiter measurements have shown that this interaction affects the upper atmosphere and ionosphere down to altitudes of - 150 km. Here we present an initial overview of the MESSENGER observations during the - 4 hrs that the spacecraft spent within 10 planet radii of Venus and, together with Venus Express measurements, examine the influence of solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field conditions on the solar wind interaction at solar minimum.
Document ID
20080039553
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Slavin, James A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Acuna, M. H.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Anderson, B. J.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Barabash, S.
(Swedish Inst. of Space Physics Kiruna, Sweden)
Benna, M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Boardsen, S. A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Fraenz, M.
(Max-Planck Inst. fuer Solar System Research Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany)
Gloeckler, G.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Gold, R. E.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Ho, G. C.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Korth, H.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Krimigis, S. M.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
McNutt, R. L., Jr.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Raines, J. M.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Sarantos, M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Solomon, S. C.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC, United States)
Zhang, T.
(Space Research Inst. Graz, Austria)
Zurbuchen, T. H.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
December 10, 2007
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2007 Fall AGU meeting
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: December 10, 2007
End Date: December 14, 2007
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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