© 2014 The Aerospace Corporation Responsive Environmental Assessment, Commercial Hosting Demonstration (REACH) Theme #3 Contribution: Particle Precipitation.

© 2014 The Aerospace Corporation

Responsive Environmental Assessment, Commercial Hosting Demonstration (REACH)

Theme #3 Contribution: Particle Precipitation

J. Mazur

The Aerospace Corporation

Space Science Applications Laboratory

joseph.mazur@aero.org

571-307-3915

24 September 2014

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REACH Project Summary

• Project team: SMC, Aerospace, Harris Corp., JHU/APL

• Commercial hosting of micro-dosimeters on Iridium-NEXT (780 km polar orbit, 6 local time planes)

• 18 dual-dosimeter payloads delivered with options for additional units

• Different energy thresholds set by windows of varying thickness

• First launch: mid 2015

• Last launch: late 2017

• Operations through 2030

4.8x3.4x0.8 in592 g0.9 W

Dosimeter pod 6 pods in thermal test

Hosting location

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New Opportunity

• Dose rates measured at a resolution of 100 milliseconds and broadcast from all vehicles at all times

• Response functions allow for inversion of particle energy spectra

– Protons ~12 to 57 MeV

– Electrons ~0.5 to 5 MeV

• Global views of near-real-time particle precipitation of interest space weather and operations centers

• Primary science applications:– Electron microbursts

– Solar particle cutoffs

• Will be operating during the extended mission

Global view of trapped and precipitating particles

Proton response functions (similar to REACH)

© 2014 The Aerospace Corporation