In the frame of international cooperations concerning planetary research the IWF participates in the research of radio emissions of the planet Saturn. These emissions will be measured with the so-called Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) Experiment onboard Cassini, which consists of a system of linear antennas and respective receivers.
For the determination of the direction of incoming radio waves it is necessary to know the reception properties of the RPWS antenna system: This antenna calibration was carried out by scientists of the IWF using different techniques: First there is the experimental technique of rheometry, second a numerical computer simulation with wire-grid models of the spacecraft, and third the so-called in-flight calibration, which has used the radio emissions of the planet Jupiter during the Cassini/Huygens Jupiter flyby at 2000/2001.
The data of the RPWS experiment (electromagnetic emissions up to a frequency of 16 MHz) will enable new insight in the physical processes in the Saturn system. New scientific results concerning the higher atmosphere and the magnetosphere of Saturn or lightning on Titan can be expected. The RPWS experiment plays a key role in the Cassini mission, due to the fact that RPWS data will answer many questions of the scientific objectives of the mission.
Further information about Cassini/RPWS can be found at the University of Iowa.
|
