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Instrument details
Acronym
PLASTIC
Full name
PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion and Composition
Purpose
To study coronal Solar Wind and solar wind-heliospheric processes by ions measurement
Short description
Assemblage of instruments to: 1) measure the distribution functions of solar wind protons and alpha particles with a time resolution of about one minute; 2) provide, on at least five minute resolution, the elemental composition, charge state distribution, kinetic temperature, and velocity of the more abundant solar wind heavy ions (e.g., C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe); and 3) measure the distribution functions of suprathermal ions H through Fe. Energy-per-charge range: 0.3-100 keV/e.
Background
Part of an instrument package for solar activity observation
Scanning Technique
Sun pointing from two variable positions along the Earth’s orbit around the Sun in order to implement stereoscopy
Resolution
N/A
Coverage / Cycle
Full interplanetary space
Mass
Power
Data Rate
Providing Agency
NASA
Instrument Maturity
Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:
2007-01-21 to 2014-10-01
Last update:
2021-12-16
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on
Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a
green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates
future satellites
Instrument classification
Solar and space environment monitors Energetic particle spectrometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
Subcomponent 2 Proton sensor [at solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Alpha-particle sensor [at solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Heavy ion sensor [at solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Solar wind density sensor [at solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Solar wind temperature sensor [at solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Solar wind velocity sensor [at solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Subcomponent 3 Proton sensor [from solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Alpha-particle sensor [from solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Heavy ion sensor [from solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Solar wind density sensor [from solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Solar wind temperature sensor [from solar orbit, ecliptic, L5] Solar wind velocity sensor [from solar orbit, ecliptic, L5]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives Alpha particles differential directional flux Heavy ion angular flux energy and mass spectrum Heavy ion flux energy and mass spectrum Proton differential directional flux Secondary mission objectives Solar wind temperature Solar wind velocity Show all Show fewer
Tentative Evaluation of Measurements
The following list indicates which measurements can typically be
retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable,
click on the respective variable.
Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Instrument: PLASTIC