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Advanced Composition Explorer

 
Advanced Composition Explorer

 
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Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) is a space exploration
Space exploration

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
 mission being conducted as part of the Explorer program
Explorer program

The Explorer program was the United States's first successful attempt to launch an satellite. It began as a U.S. Army proposal to place a scientific satellite into orbit during the International Geophysical Year....
 to study matter
Matter

In common usage, matter is anything that has both mass and volume . A more rigorous definition is used in science: matter is what atoms and molecules are made of....
 in situ
In situ

In situ is a Latin phrase meaning in the place. It is used in many different contexts....
, comprising energetic particles from the solar wind
Solar wind

The solar wind is a Electric current—a Plasma —ejected from the stellar atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons with energies of about 1 electron volt....
, the interplanetary medium
Interplanetary medium

The interplanetary medium is the material which fills the solar systems and through which all the larger solar system bodies such as planets, asteroids and comets move....
, and other sources. Real-time data from ACE is used by the Space Weather Prediction Center to improve forecasts and warnings of solar storms. The ACE robotic spacecraft was launched August 25 1997 and is currently operating in a Lissajous orbit
Lissajous orbit

In orbital mechanics, a Lissajous orbit is a quasi-periodic orbital trajectory that an object can follow around a collinear libration point of a three-body system without requiring any propulsion....
 close to the L1 Lagrange point (which lies between the Sun and the Earth at a distance of some 1.5 million km from the latter).

Instrumentation
Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS): CRIS determines the isotope
Isotope

Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different atomic mass . Isotopes of an element have atomic nucleus with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutron....
 composition of galactic cosmic ray
Galactic cosmic ray

Galactic cosmic rays consist of those cosmic rays that enter the solar system from the outside. They are high-energy charged particles composed of protons, electrons, and fully ionized nuclei of light elements....
s.






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Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) is a space exploration
Space exploration

Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
 mission being conducted as part of the Explorer program
Explorer program

The Explorer program was the United States's first successful attempt to launch an satellite. It began as a U.S. Army proposal to place a scientific satellite into orbit during the International Geophysical Year....
 to study matter
Matter

In common usage, matter is anything that has both mass and volume . A more rigorous definition is used in science: matter is what atoms and molecules are made of....
 in situ
In situ

In situ is a Latin phrase meaning in the place. It is used in many different contexts....
, comprising energetic particles from the solar wind
Solar wind

The solar wind is a Electric current—a Plasma —ejected from the stellar atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons with energies of about 1 electron volt....
, the interplanetary medium
Interplanetary medium

The interplanetary medium is the material which fills the solar systems and through which all the larger solar system bodies such as planets, asteroids and comets move....
, and other sources. Real-time data from ACE is used by the Space Weather Prediction Center to improve forecasts and warnings of solar storms. The ACE robotic spacecraft was launched August 25 1997 and is currently operating in a Lissajous orbit
Lissajous orbit

In orbital mechanics, a Lissajous orbit is a quasi-periodic orbital trajectory that an object can follow around a collinear libration point of a three-body system without requiring any propulsion....
 close to the L1 Lagrange point (which lies between the Sun and the Earth at a distance of some 1.5 million km from the latter).

Instrumentation


Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS): CRIS determines the isotope
Isotope

Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different atomic mass . Isotopes of an element have atomic nucleus with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutron....
 composition of galactic cosmic ray
Galactic cosmic ray

Galactic cosmic rays consist of those cosmic rays that enter the solar system from the outside. They are high-energy charged particles composed of protons, electrons, and fully ionized nuclei of light elements....
s. It is designed to be sensitive enough to detect isotopes up to the range of zinc
Zinc

Zinc is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a first-row transition metal of the group 12 element of the periodic table....
 (Z-30).

ACE Real Time Solar Wind (RTSW):

Solar Wind Ion Mass Spectrometer (SWIMS) and Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS): These two instruments are time-of-flight mass spectrometers, each tuned for a different set of measurements. They analyze the chemical and isotopic composition of solar wind
Solar wind

The solar wind is a Electric current—a Plasma —ejected from the stellar atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons with energies of about 1 electron volt....
 and interstellar matter.

Ultra-Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer (ULEIS): ULEIS measures ion flux
Flux

In the various subfields of physics, there exist two common usages of the term flux, both with rigorous mathematical frameworks.*In the study of transport phenomena , flux is defined as the amount that flows through a unit area per unit time....
 and is sensitive to a range from helium
Helium

Helium is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic chemical element that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table and whose atomic number is 2....
 through nickel
Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge....
 to determine the makeup of solar energetic particles and the mechanism by which the particles become charged by the sun.

Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA):

Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS):

Solar Wind Electron, Proton and Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM):

Electron, Proton, and Alpha-particle Monitor (EPAM):

Magnetometer (MAG):

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