MEFISTO - An electric field instrument for BepiColombo/MMO

QC 20110809
MEFISTO, together with the companion instrument WPT, are planning the first-ever in situ measurements of the electric field in the magnetosphere of planet Mercury. The instruments have been selected by JAXA for inclusion in the BepiColombo/MMO payload, as part of the Plasma Wave Investigation coordinated by Kyoto University. The magnetosphere of Mercury was discovered by Mariner 10 in 1974 and will be studied further by Messenger starting in 2011. However, neither spacecraft did or will measure the electric field. Electric fields are crucial in the dynamics of a magnetosphere and for the energy and plasma transport between different regions within the magnetosphere as well as between the magnetosphere and the surrounding regions. The MEFISTO instrument will be capable of measuring electric fields from DC to 3 MHz, and will thus also allow diagnostics of waves at all frequencies of relevance to the Hermean magnetosphere. MEFISTO is a double-probe electric field instrument. The double-probe technique has strong heritage and is well proven on missions such as Viking, Polar, and Cluster. For BepiColombo, a newly developed deployment mechanism is planned which reduces the mass by a factor of about 5 compared to conventional mechanisms for 15 in long booms. We describe the basic characteristics of the instrument and briefly discuss the new developments made to tailor the instrument to flight in Mercury orbit.

Matsumoto, H. (author)
Bougeret, J. -L (author)
Kojima, H. (author)
Yagitani, S. (author)
Cumnock, Judy A.KTH,Rymd- och plasmafysik(Swepub:kth)u1qhxemy (author)
Eriksson, A. I.Uppsala universitet,Institutet för rymdfysik, Uppsalaavdelningen (author)
Marklund, Göran T.KTH,Rymd- och plasmafysik(Swepub:kth)u1yq52h6 (author)
Wahlund, J. -EUppsala universitet,Institutet för rymdfysik, Uppsalaavdelningen (author)
Bylander, LarsKTH,Rymd- och plasmafysik(Swepub:kth)u16gf255 (author)
Åhlen, L.Uppsala universitet,Institutet för rymdfysik, Uppsalaavdelningen (author)
Holtet, J. A. (author)
Ishisaka, K. (author)
Kallio, E. (author)
Kasaba, Y. (author)
Matsuoka, A. (author)
Moncuquet, M. (author)
Mursula, K. (author)
Omura, Y. (author)
Trotignon, J. G. (author)
KTHRymd- och plasmafysik (creator_code:org_t)

About the subject

Kungliga biblioteket hanterar dina personuppgifter i enlighet med EU:s dataskyddsförordning (2018), GDPR. Läs mer om hur det funkar här.
Så här hanterar KB dina uppgifter vid användning av denna tjänst.