Characterization of the active current system around the TSS-1R satellite through magnetic field measurements taken by the Tethered Magnetometer instrument
F. Mariani et al., Characterization of the active current system around the TSS-1R satellite through magnetic field measurements taken by the Tethered Magnetometer instrument, J GEO R-S P, 105(A8), 2000, pp. 18537-18547
In this paper we present the measurements and interpretations of the Tether
ed Magnetometer (TEMAG) experiment flown on the Tethered Satellite Mission
Reflight TSS-1R. Data were taken during the active operating phase when cur
rent steps of variable amplitude were injected along the electrically condu
cting tether. The magnetic field shows clear signatures in the components a
nd amplitude, dependent upon the orientation of the magnetometer boom with
respect to the spacecraft ram velocity vector. In the eight events studied,
current effects could be observed in the magnetic field data only when the
boom was pointing toward the ram side hemisphere of the satellite, The pic
ture emerging from the observed results suggests the formation of a current
sheet on the ram side, possibly associated with the aerodynamic shock and
compression of the geomagnetic field ahead of the satellite. Although the l
imited data do not allow full description of the phenomenology, they place
important observational constraints on any theoretical model.