September 13, 2018

Mio Instruments

The Mio orbiter payload is constituted of a set of instruments for plasma, field, and particle measurement to study the processes coupling Mercury's surface's, magnetosphere, and solar wind.

The different instrument sub-systems are:

  • One instrument set to measure charged particles (MPPE, Mercury Plasma Particle Experiment) constituted of:
     
    • two electron spectrometers: MEA (Electron Spectrum Analyzer)
    • a Mass Spectrum Analyzer (MSA)
    • a Solar Wind Analyzer (MIA)
    • a High Energy Electron Instrument (HEP-e)
    • a High Energy Ion Instrument (HEP-i)
    • one Energetic Neutral Atom Analyzer (ENA)
       
  • Two three-axis sensors to measure the magnetic field: MGF (Magnetic Field Sensor)
     
  • One instrument set to measure plasma waves (PWI, Plasma Wave Investigation) constituted of:
     
    • two dipole antennas: WPANT (Wire Probe Antenna)
    • one double probe antenna: MEFISTO (Mercury Electric Field In Situ Tool)
    • one electric field analyzer: EWO
    • one sensor to measure the magnetic field components along 3 axes: SC (Search Coil sensor)
    • one instrument to measure active plasma: AM²P
    • one spectrometer to measure radio waves and thermal electrostatic noise: SORBET
       
  • One dust detector: MDM (Mercury Dust Monitor)
     
  • One imaging spectrometer for the exosphere: MSASI (Mercury Sodium Atmosphere Imager).
     

The allocations of this payload are a mass limited to 40 Kg and a power of 53 W.