Jump to content

Plasma Wave Subsystem

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Fotaun (talk | contribs) at 11:51, 20 September 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Here the data recorded by the PWS on Voyager 1 is converted to audio
The main PWS electronics box and the two antenna are noted in this diagram. Note that the antenna are truncated in this diagram and are much longer than shown, extending out 10 meteres. The PWS also needs power and heat from the RTG to operate

Plasma Wave Subsystem (sometimes called Plasma Wave System), abbreviated PWS, is an instrument that is on board the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 unmanned probes of the Voyager program. The device is 16 channel step frequency receiver and a low-frequency waveform receiver that can measure electron density.[1] The PWS uses the two long V-shape antenna on the spacecraft, which are also used by another instrument on the spacecraft.[2]

The PWS instrument plan was introduced in 1974 during the development of the Voyager program.[3] It was hoped it would help increase understanding of wave particle interactions and record data on the magnetospheres of planets like Jupiter and Saturn.[4]

The PWS instrument is one of the instruments that is part of the Voyager interstellar mission, and has been operated for several decades including the 2010s.[5]

Specifications

Spec:[6]

  • Mass: 1.4 kg (3.08 pounds, 0.22 stones)
  • Average electrical power consumption: 1.3 watts (W)
  • Average data rate: 0.032 kbps (bit rate)
  • Frequency range 10 Hz to 56 kHz[7]
  • PWS/PRA Antenna:[8][9]
    • Length of antenna : 10 meters
    • Number of antenna : 2
    • Angle between antenna: 90 degrees

PWS-antenna

This diagram shows how the PWS and PRA share the Voyager antenna, and its overall location on the Voyager-type design

See also

References

  1. ^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Experiment - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  2. ^ "Voyager - Spacecraft - Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) and Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS)". voyager.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [2]
  5. ^ "Voyager - Fast Facts". voyager.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  6. ^ [phttps://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1977-076A-13]
  7. ^ "Voyager - Spacecraft - Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) and Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS)". voyager.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  8. ^ [3]
  9. ^ "Voyager - Spacecraft - Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) and Plasma Wave Subsystem (PWS)". voyager.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plasma_Wave_Subsystem&oldid=916740733"