Space Plasma Experiments

Beyond a planet's atmosphere, rarefied gas is ionized by solar UV, making a plasma that is shaped by the planet's magnetic fields. The plasma just above the atmosphere includes the aurora and the ionosphere; plasma at higher altitudes includes the magnetosphere. To detect the plasma surrounding Earth, the spacecraft Polar has three instruments for Iowa experimenters: Professor Frank's camera to image the aurora, Professor Scudder's plasma analyzer to record thermal charged particles near the spacecraft, and Professor Gurnett's receiver to detect radio and plasma waves.	The plasma surrounding Jupiter is detected by two instruments built at Iowa and installed on the Galileo spacecraft: Professor Frank's charged-particle analyzer and Professor Gurnett's radio and plasma-wave receiver. Galileo is shown here as it was released from the space shuttle, on its journey to Jupiter. (NASA photo)	Waves in the plasma surrounding Saturn will be detected by the Cassini spacecraft, using an instrument built by Professor Gurnett's group. (NASA artwork)
Waves in the plasma surrounding Earth are detected by instruments built at Iowa for the Cluster project, which consists of four identical spacecraft that move together in Earth orbit. (ESA artwork)	The Earth's ionospheric plasma is probed by detectors built by Professor Kletzing's group for the Black Brant sounding rocket. (NASA photo)

Last updated July 25, 2003. © The University of Iowa 2003. All rights reserved. Contact information. Send questions or comments to the webmaster. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is a part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.