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Sanford, R.

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International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program

The International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Program is a large, multi-national program involving three space agencies and up to eight spacecraft. NASA, together with the Institute of Space and Astronomical Science (ISAS) and the European Space Agency (ESA), has agreed in principle to coordinate their efforts in investigating the Sun and the Earth. Each agency is planning to construct and operate different spacecraft as part of this cooperative venture: Geotail provided by ISAS, the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Cluster (four spacecraft) contributed by ESA, and Wind and Polar by NASA. A general description of the program is presented.

Sanford, R.↗

International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) geotail mission

The Geotail spacecraft will be provided by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and will provide a Delta Launch Vehicle, tracking support by the Deep Space Network (DSN), and data processing support by GSFC. In exchange, ISAS will reserve part of the payload for NASA instruments together with a certain number of investigators from the United States. As the solar wind flows toward the Earth, some of the energy is modified by the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere. This interaction causes the flow to be altered, creating a plasmasphere, plasma sheet, and ring currents in the Earth's Geomagnetic Tail region. The result is a series of distinct regions which affect processes on the Earth. By traversing the tail region to a variety of depths, Geotail will be able to determine the size, position, and other properties of these regions. When correlated with information obtained from the other ISAS spacecraft, Geotail data should help to provide a more complete understanding of how the solar processes affect the Earth's environment. The flight profile is given, and information is presented in tabular form on the following topics: DSN support, frequency assignments, telemetry, command, and tracking support responsibility.

Sanford, R.↗

International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) WIND Mission

The launch of the WIND spacecraft will place the satellite into a sunside apogee double-lunar swing-by orbit for a period of one year, after which WIND may be transferred to a Sun-Earth L1 Halo orbit. Information is presented in tabular form on the following topics: Deep Space Network support; frequency assignments, telemetry, command, and ranging.

Sanford, R.↗

International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program polar mission

The polar spacecraft will be launched from Western Test Ranges (WTR) into a 2 earth radii by 9 earth radii polar orbit, with apogee near the North Pole. Information is presented on the following topics: Deep Space Network support, frequency assignments, telemetry, command, and ranging.

Sanford, R.↗