The Orbiter magnetometer: RPC-MAG

The Orbiter-Magnetometer is part of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) and was developped in a close cooperation with the Imperial College (London). The instrument consists of two identical fluxgate sensors mounted on a 1.5 m long boom outside the spacecraft andan electronics box placed inside the orbiter.The sensor has beeen designed and manufactured in lead-management by Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Glaßmeier at the IGEP in Braunschweig. The development of the electronics was a teamwork with the IWF in Graz.

The RPC fluxgate sensor, click to enlarge.

RPC-MAG Parameter Sensor mass 45 g Sensor volume 23 cm3 Electronics mass 336 g Resolution 31 pT Dynamic range 16384 nT Sensor noise(@1Hz) 10pT/(Hz)1/2 Bandwidth 0 10 Hz Sample Rate 20 vectors/s Power 840 mW Temperature range -160 ... +120C Time of operation 15 a

Links

• Institut für Weltraumforschung, Graz
• Imperial College,London
• Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau
• Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Garching