In-flight calibration of the NEAR magnetometer

The science objectives for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Magnet ometer Experiment (MAG) are to measure a possible magnetic field of 433 Ero s to 5 nT accuracy and secondarily to detect asteroid-solar wind interactio n signatures. Because the MAG sensor is body mounted, achieving this accura cy required detailed analysis of spacecraft magnetic fields during cruise. Sources of magnetic contamination identified prior to launch and during cru ise are: propulsion latch valves, fixed 190 nT residual field, solar arrays and power harness, variable 15 to 60 nT held, power distribution terminal board, similar to 30 nT field with 5 nT variations, power shunting circuitr y, 1-5 nT variations, the MAG sensor survival heater 6 nT steps and attitud e control momentum wheels, and 1 nT amplitude at 0.5 to 10 Hz from each of four wheels. Analysis of cruise data was used to create accurate +/-1 nT mo dels for the tired and variable fields with signals below 0.5 Hz to provide correction of the raw data. The spacecraft field corrections and MAG calib ration were validated with data from the Earth swing-by of January 1997. Co mparison of solar wind magnetic field measurements from the WIND spacecraft and NEAR from January 22-24, 1997, before and after the Earth swing-by man euver, confirm that the resulting NEAR magnetic field measurements are accu rate to 1-2 nT.