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Cluster II Mission
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The Cluster mission is currently investigating the small-scale structure (in three dimensions)
of the Earth's plasma environment, such as those involved in the interaction between the solar wind
and the magnetospheric plasma, in global magnetotail dynamics, in cross-tail currents, and in the
formation and dynamics of the neutral line and of plasmoids.
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Characteristics
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| Spacecraft Mass |
4800 kg |
| Launch Vehicle |
2 Russian Soyuz launchers, with Fregat upper stage |
| Launch Dates |
16-Jul-2000 and 09-Aug-2000 |
| Mission End |
December 2005 |
| Orbit |
Elliptical polar |
| Perigee |
19 000 km |
| Apogee |
119 000 km |
| Period |
57 hours |
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The goals of the Cluster II mission
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The goals of the Cluster II mission are identical to those of the original Cluster mission lost in June
1996 and the instrument complement remains the same. The Cluster II mission is an in-situ investigation
of the Earth's magnetosphere using four identical spacecraft simultaneously. It will permit the accurate
determination of three-dimensional and time-varying phenomena and will make it possible to distinguish
between spatial and temporal variations.
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Cluster II is determining the physical processes involved in the interaction between the solar wind and the
magnetosphere by visiting key regions like the polar cusps and the magnetotail. The four Cluster spacecraft
is mapping in three dimensions the plasma structures contained in these regions. The simultaneous four-point
measurements also allow differential plasma quantities to be derived for the first time. For example, the
density of current flowing around the spacecraft is derived from the magnetic field measurements using
Ampere's law.
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Liftoff from Kazakhstan
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Cluster II was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 16 July 2000 and 9 August 2000.
The four satellites were put into orbit, in pairs, by two Soyuz rockets provided by the Russian-French
Starsem company. Starsem has four shareholders - Aerospatiale, Arianespace, the Russian Space Agency
and TsSKB Samara, the manufacturer of the Soyuz vehicle.
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The Soyuz is a more powerful version of the rockets that launched the world's first satellite in 1957
(Sputnik) and the first spaceman in 1961 (Yuri Gagarin). Between them the various versions of the booster
have completed more than 1600 successful launches. Although the Soyuz first flew in 1963, it is still used
to orbit both manned and unmanned spacecraft. Its future operations will include delivering crews and cargo
to the International Space Station.
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When the Cluster II mission was approved by ESA's Science Programme Committee in April 1997, it was decided
that a launch on a European Ariane rocket would be too expensive. The only feasible solution, bearing in mind
the project's strict financial constraints, was to launch the spacecraft using two Soyuz launch vehicles,
each equipped with a newly designed Fregat upper stage. The contract for launch of the Cluster II satellites
was signed on 24 July 1998 at ESA Headquarters in Paris.
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The first pair of Cluster II satellites lifted off on 16 July, and were followed by the second pair one
month later. This gap allowed fewer people to be used for mission control in the European Space Operations
Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt (Germany).
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