AN OVERVIEW OF THE SOLAR, ANOMALOUS, AND MAGNETOSPHERIC PARTICLE EXPLORER (SAMPEX) MISSION

The scientific objective of the NASA Small-class Explorer Mission SAMP EX are summarized. A brief history of the Small Explorer program is pr ovided along with a description of the SAMPEX project development and structure. The spacecraft and scientific instrument configuration is p resented. The orbit of SAMPEX has an altitude of 520 by 670 km and an 82-degrees inclination. Maximum possible power is provided by articula ted solar arrays that point continuously toward the sun. Highly sensit ive science instruments point generally toward the local zenith, espec ially over the terrestrial poles, in order to measure optimally the ga lactic and solar cosmic ray flux. Energetic magnetospheric particle pr ecipitation is monitored at lower geomagnetic latitudes. The spacecraf t uses several innovative approaches including an optical fiber bus, p owerful onboard computers, and large solid state memories (instead of tape recorders). Spacecraft communication and data acquisition are dis cussed and the space- and ground-segment data flows are summarized. A mission lifetime of 3 years is sought with the goal of extending data acquisition over an even longer portion of the 11-year solar activity cycle.