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First Results from ARTEMIS, a New Two-Spacecraft Lunar Mission: Counter-Streaming Plasma Populations in the Lunar WakeWe present observations from the first passage through the lunar plasma wake by one of two spacecraft comprising ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun), a new lunar mission that re-tasks two of five probes from the THEMIS magnetospheric mission. On Feb 13, 2010, ARTEMIS probe P1 passed through the wake at 3.5 lunar radii downstream from the Moon, in a region between those explored by Wind and the Lunar Prospector, Kaguya, Chandrayaan, and Chang'E missions. ARTEMIS observed interpenetrating proton, alpha particle, and electron populations refilling the wake along magnetic field lines from both flanks. The characteristics of these distributions match expectations from self-similar models of plasma expansion into vacuum, with an asymmetric character likely driven by a combination of a tilted interplanetary magnetic field and an anisotropic incident solar wind electron population. On this flyby, ARTEMIS provided unprecedented measurements of the interpenetrating beams of both electrons and ions naturally produced by the filtration and acceleration effects of electric fields set up during the refilling process. ARTEMIS also measured electrostatic oscillations closely correlated with counter-streaming electron beams in the wake, as previously hypothesized but never before directly measured. These observations demonstrate the capability of the comprehensively instrumented ARTEMIS spacecraft and the potential for new lunar science from this unique two spacecraft constellation.
Document ID
20110022965
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Halekas, J. S.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Angelopoulos, V.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Sibeck, D. G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Khurana, K. K.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Russell, C. T.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Delory, G. T.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Farrell, W. M.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
McFadden, J. P.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Bonnell, J. W.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Larson, D.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Ergun, R. E.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Plaschke, F.
(Technische Univ. Brunswick, Germany)
Glassmeier, K. H.
(Technische Univ. Brunswick, Germany)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 19, 2011
Publication Information
Publication: Space Science Reviews
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.5147.2011
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: DLR 50QP0402
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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