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Accueil > Recherche > Plasmas Spatiaux > Instrumentation spatiale > Contribution aux missions spatiales > BepiColombo/MSA
BepiColombo/MSA
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Ion Mass Spectrum Analyzer
MSA is part of the MPPE set of instruments coordinated by ISAS (Japan).
LPP team
Science : D. Delcourt, D. Fontaine
Instrument : F. Leblanc, J. D. Techer, C. Verdeil
Ground segment : B. Katra
Selected publications
- Delcourt, D., Y. Saito, J.-M. Illiano, N. Krupp, J.-J. Berthelier, D. Fontaine, M. Fraenz, F. Leblanc, H. Fischer, S. Yokota, H. Michalik, M. Godefroy, E. Saint-Jacques, J.-D. Techer, B. Fiethe, J. Covinhes, J. Gastou, et D. Attia, The Mass Spectrum Analyzer onboard BepiColombo MMO : Scientific objectives and prototype results, Adv. Space Res., vol. 43, p. 869, 2009.
Scientific objectives
MSA is the experiment dedicated to plasma composition measurements onboard MMO. The main scientific objectives of this experiment are :
(1) to study the role and efficiency of the solar wind and planetary surface as sources of plasma for the hermean magnetosphere ;
(2) to study the transport and acceleration of plasma in the hermean magnetosphere, and investigate in particular the dynamics of heavy ions of planetary origin ;
(3) to contribute to understanding of the magnetosphere electrodynamics, substorms, and nature of current carriers ;
(4) to analyze the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with the planetary surface, and to study plasma losses and processes by which particles escape from the surface. In order to address these issues, MSA will provide three-dimensional distribution functions of ions in one MMO spin (4 s).
Description of the instrument
The MSA experiment that derives from CAPS-IMS onboard CASSINI consists of an energy analyzer combined with a Time-Of-Flight analyzer that is polarized with a Linear Electric Field. This allows enhanced mass resolution (above 40) which is of importance at Mercury since, in contrast to the Earth’s environment, a wide variety of species originating from the planetary surface is expected. The instrument will operate over a large range of masses (1-40 amu) and energies (from 1 eV/q up to 38 keV/q).
Modèle de vol de MSA
