Mars Global Surveyor
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Abstract
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The Mars Global Surveyor magnetic field instrument consists of dual, triaxial fluxgate magnetometers, capable of measuring fields between +/- 4 nT and +/- 65536 nT. Automated range switching allows the instrument to maintain maximum digital resolution over a widerange of field strengths.
The text of this instrument description has been abstracted from the instrument paper [ACUNAETAL1992]:
Acuna, M. A., J. E. P. Connerney, P. Wasilewski, R. P. Lin,K. A. Anderson, C. W. Carlson, J. McFadden, D. W. Curtis, H.
Reme, A. Cros, J. L. Medale, J. A. Sauvaud, C. d'Uston, S. J.
Bauer, P. Cloutier, M. Mayhew, and N. F. Ness, Mars Observer Magnetic Fields Investigation, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 7799-7814,1992.
The description and ASCII drawings of the instrument mounting and frames are derived from the SPICE instrument kernel version 1.2 dated Sept. 16, 1998. Please review the published material for acomplete description of the instrument.
Scientific Objectives
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The primary objective of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) magnetic field experiment is to establish the nature of the magnetic field of Mars. This includes determining whether or not Mars has a global field of internal origin indicating either present or past dynamo field generation. The existence of an internally generated field would place significant constraints on the composition, thermalstate, and dynamics of the interior of the planet.
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