Development of a prototype Langmuir probe for the ICI-1 sounding rocket

Johnny Grneng Aase University of Oslo - Department of Physics The University Centre in Svalbard e-mail aase@phys.ucalgary.ca fax +1-403-282-5016 20th October 2005

Contents
1 2 Introduction Hypothesis and probe design considerations 2.1 Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Starting point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Basic requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Wake effect measurements . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Probe location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Chapter summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . High-altitude physical conditions 3.1 The Earths magnetic eld . . . . 3.2 The solar wind and IMF . . . . . 3.3 The LLBL, cusp and mantle . . . 3.4 Particle stopping altitude . . . . . 3.5 Electron density and temperature 3.6 Plasma characteristics . . . . . . 3.6.1 Cyclotron frequency . . . 3.6.2 Cyclotron radius . . . . . 3.6.3 Debye-length . . . . . . . 3.7 Chapter summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 4 4 5 8 10 12 13 13 13 15 15 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 20 20 22 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 24 24 24 25 25 25 27

Patches 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The sounding rocket 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 The Hotel Payload concept . . . . 5.2.1 Nike . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.2 Improved Orion . . . . . . 5.3 Other experiments . . . . . . . . 5.3.1 E-eld experiment . . . . 5.3.2 PIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.3 Solid state spectrometers 5.3.4 SCM . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.5 CDC . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Chapter summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Telemetry and encoder 6.1 Telemetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Telemetry format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Encoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Instrument design considerations 7.1 Shielding and radiation damage . . 7.2 EMC - Electromagnetic compatibility 7.3 Outgassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 Thermal design . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4.1 Conduction . . . . . . . . . . 7.4.2 Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 Shocks and vibration . . . . . . . . . 7.6 Electrostatic discharge . . . . . . . . Langmuir probe theory 8.1 Background . . . . . . . 8.2 The Ne measurements . 8.3 Implementation issues . 8.3.1 Boom and sensor 8.3.2 Collector surfaces 8.4 Chapter summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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28 28 28 29 29 30 30 30 30 31 31 31 32 33 33 33 34 34 35 35 35 35 35 36 36 37 37 41 45 45 45 46 46 48 51 52 54 54 55 55 56 56 56 58 58 58 59 62

Electronics 9.1 System overview . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 Basic PCB considerations . . . . . . . 9.3.1 Laminate . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.2 Double sided board . . . . . . 9.3.3 Component technology . . . 9.4 Decoupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5 Single point ground . . . . . . . . . . 9.6 Preamplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6.1 Theory of operation . . . . . 9.6.2 Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7 Coax cabling/ying leads . . . . . . 9.8 Main PCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8.2 Differential amplier . . . . . 9.8.3 Filter circuit . . . . . . . . . . 9.8.4 Sallen-Key Butterworth lter 9.8.5 AD-converter . . . . . . . . . 9.8.6 Implementation issues . . . . 9.8.7 Serial interface . . . . . . . . 9.8.8 ACEX 1k50 . . . . . . . . . . 9.8.9 EPC2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8.10 DC/DC-converter . . . . . . 9.9 Grounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.10 Encoder interface . . . . . . . . . . . 9.11 Component placement . . . . . . . . 9.12 Ground planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.13 Hole mounted components . . . . . 9.14 VHDL-code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.15 Testing and decisionmaking . . . . .

10 Hardware ii

11 Vibration testing 11.1 Introduction . . . 11.2 Sines, test 1 . . . . 11.3 Sines, test 2 . . . . 11.4 Random, 10g . . . 11.5 Chapter summary

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67 67 67 68 68 69 71 71 73 74 78 78 78 79 79 79 81 81 81 82 83 83 84 92 95 96 100 104 105

12 Activities in Ny-lesund 12.1 Prelaunch activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2 Launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.3 What went wrong? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Discussion and conclusion 13.1 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 Weaknesses . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 Design improvements . . . . 13.4.1 Two or three channels 13.4.2 Logarithmic amplier 13.4.3 Oscillator . . . . . . . 13.4.4 Sigma-delta converter 13.4.5 Accelerometer . . . . . 13.4.6 On-board data storage 13.5 Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . A Abbreviations B Nomenclatura C Flight events D IRI-95 calculations E Preamplier component list F Main PCB component list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

G Costs 106 G.1 Mechanical workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 G.2 PWBs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 G.3 Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 H Cadstar-les I J AutoCAD-drawings New components 107 126 134 135 145

K Voltage to current converter L Filter circuit test

M Telemetry formats 147 M.1 Telemetry format, effective 020703 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 M.2 Telemetry format, effective 281103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 iii

N Filter circuits O VHDL-code

150 153

P Prose 155 P.1 D Daniel drog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 P.2 If . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

iv

List of Figures
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 5.1 5.2 6.1 6.2 8.1 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 IRI-95 electron temperature at 12 UT Dec 1st, 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IRI-95 electron density at 12 UT Dec 1st, 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DMSP tomographic image of cusp irregularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Situation at 250 km altitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wake effects observed by the Joule UoC SII instrument (Courtesy L. Sangalli) Polar plot of wake effects observed from DEOS sounding rocket . . . . . . . . Sketch of ICI-1 payload - front view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketch of ICI-1 payload - side view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-eld boom wake angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E-eld boom wake angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Earths dipole magnetic eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Earths magnetosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dayside auroral precipitation regions (Newell and Meng, 1992) Altitude distribution of day- and nightside auroras . . . . . . . The ionospheric layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ne , Te and Ti during normal polar ionospheric conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 6 8 9 9 10 10 11 12 14 14 15 16 17 18 23 24 26 26 32 34 36 37 38 39 39 41 42 42 44 44 45 46 47 48 49 49

ICI-1 prior to launch (Courtesy T. Angeltveit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ICI-1s instrument payload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The PCM format hierarchy with words, frames and formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic telemetry format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theoretical transfer characteristic of a SBLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic instrument overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Decoupling capacitors C13 and C14 on the PCB . . . . . . . . . Single point grounding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier PCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketch of preamplier PCB operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bootstrapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier Pspice circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier current-voltage response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AD620 voltage to current converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Result of preamplier test, input range 0-100 A . . . . . . . . Result of preamplier test, input range 0-25 A . . . . . . . . . Coax cable and ying leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier and main electronics PCBs . . . . . . . . . . . . . AD620 coax cable termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Output from the LP low-pass lter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FilterPro simulation of 8-pole Butterworth Sallen-Key LP lter 2-pole component of Sallen-Key Butterworth lter circuit . . . v . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9.18 9.19 9.20 9.21 9.22 9.23 9.24 9.25 9.26 9.27 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7

PSpice simulation of the lter circuit . . High-pass CR lter . . . . . . . . . . . . PSpice simulation of the CR lter . . . . AD-onverter on Sunhayato test pad . . ADS8321 basic data acquisition system . ADS8321 basic timing diagram . . . . . MAJF, MINF, SCLK and GATE interface DATA interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VHDL ow scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric test of Langmuir probe at ARR . Preamplier box and probe . . . . . . Interiors of probe hemispheres . . . . Exterior of probe hemispheres . . . . . Preamplier box and Langmuir probe Wire wrap connector . . . . . . . . . . Langmuir probe main PCB box . . . . Langmuir and E-eld probe boxes . . . . . . . . .

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51 51 52 53 53 54 56 57 59 60 62 63 64 65 65 66 66 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 80 80 81 82 83 84 97 97 98 98 99 99 108 109 109 110 110 111 111

11.1 Vibration test 1 (sine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Vibration test 2 (sine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3 Vibration test 3 (random) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1 Main electronics readied for launch . . . . . . . . . . 12.2 Main electronics box ready for launch . . . . . . . . 12.3 Langmuir probe on instrument boom . . . . . . . . 12.4 Langmuir probe from below the instrument boom . 12.5 Langmuir probe covered with carbon . . . . . . . . 12.6 Langmuir probe MSB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 Transversal z-axis AC accelerometer data . . . . . . 12.8 Longitudinal z-axis DC accelerometer data . . . . . 12.9 Debris from ICI-1 (Courtesy G. Hansen, ARR) . . . 12.10ICI-1s conical adapter (Courtesy G. Hansen, ARR) . 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 C.1 C.2 C.3 C.4 C.5 C.6 H.1 H.2 H.3 H.4 H.5 H.6 H.7 Preamplier current-voltage response . . . . . . . Two-channel Langmuir probe . . . . . . . . . . . . Three-channel Langmuir probe . . . . . . . . . . . Langmuir probe with oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . Langmuir probe with lift-off pulse accelerometers Langmuir probe with on-board data storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Velocity as a function of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Altitude as a function of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acceleration as a function of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . Three-dimensional view of ICI-1s nominal ight path. Horizontal projection of ICI-1s nominal ight path . . Vertical projection of ICI-1s nominal ight path . . . . Preamplier - schematic circuit diagram Preamplier - top silk layer . . . . . . . Preamplier - top electric layer . . . . . Preamplier - bottom silk layer . . . . . Preamplier - bottom electric layer . . . Preamplier - components only . . . . . Preamplier - drill le . . . . . . . . . . vi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

H.8 Main electroncs - overview (Norwegian) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.9 Main electronics - lter circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.10 Main electronics - Altera and AD-converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.11 Main electronics - encoder interface electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.12 Main electronics - DCDC converter and encoder interface 15-pin DSUB H.13 Main electronics - top silk layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.14 Main electronics - top electric layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.15 Main electronics - bottom silk layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.16 Main electronics - bottom electric layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.17 Main electronics - drill le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.18 Main electronics - components only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.19 Main electronics - white background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.20 Main electronics - black background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H.21 Main electronics - default le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I.1 I.2 I.3 I.4 I.5 I.6 I.7 N.1 N.2 N.3 N.4 Main PCB box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Main PCB box cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Main PCB dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier boom box bracket . . . . . . . . 9-pin DSUB bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charge-collecting sphere and protective tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 150 151 151 152

FilterPro simulation of 4-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter . FilterPro simulation of 6-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter . FilterPro simulation of 8-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter . FilterPro simulation of 10-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter

O.1 GFS-le of VHDL code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

vii

List of Tables
2.1 2.2 9.1 9.2 9.3 Current-to-voltage converter slew rates (SR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wake angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preamplier test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LP lter response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Technical specications of AD converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 11 43 50 55 96

C.1 ICI-1 ight events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D.1 Current estimates Nov 23d, 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 D.2 Current estimates for Dec 1st, 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 D.3 Current estimates for Dec 8th, 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 K.1 K.2 K.3 K.4 K.5 K.6 K.7 K.8 K.9 K.10 Voltages, RL = 27.97 k, RLOAD = 17.89 k . . . Currents, RL = 27.97 k, RLOAD = 17.89 k . . . Voltages, RL = 273.6k , RLOAD = 172.3 k . . . Currents, RL = 273.6k , RLOAD = 172.3 k . . . RL = 5.08 M, RLOAD = 1.023 M . . . . . . . . RL = 5.08 M, RLOAD = 1.023 M . . . . . . . . Calculated currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Current ratios, RL = 27.97 k, RLOAD = 17.89 k Current ratios, RL = 273.6k , RLOAD = 172.3 k Current ratios RL = 5.08 M, RLOAD = 1.023 M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 137 138 139 140 141 141 142 143 144

L.1 Filter circuit test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 M.1 Telemetry format valid primo July 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 M.2 Telemetry format valid ultimo November 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

viii

Acknowledgements
This Master thesis work has been carried out at the Department of physics at the University of Oslo and the University Centre in Svalbard in Longyearbyen. It has been supervised by professor Jran Moen, senior engineer Lars Lyngdal, professor Arne Pedersen, associate professor Tornn Lindem and associate professor Dag Lorentzen. The work has been very interesting and challenging in many - and often unexpected - ways. I would like to rst thank Jran Moen for offering me the opportunity to do a Master degree related to the ICI-1 project in the spring of 2001. I have received help and practical advice from Lars Lyngdal and Jan Kenneth Bekkeng. I am very grateful to Arne Pedersen for giving me information about Langmuir probes and the environment of the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space. Tornn Lindem has been helpful when I have experienced problems with the electronics. Stein Lyng Nilsen and Ole Dorholt provided useful advice about the Cadstar software, production of printed wiring boards and soldering techniques. Thor Arne Agnalt, Thomas F. Johansen and the rest of the staff at the Mechanical Workshop did a marvellous job building the protective aluminium boxes and the Langmuir probe. I am eternally indebted to Director Dr Peter Kaspersen and my colleagues at Norsk Elektro Optikk AS for employing me as a development engineer in 2001-2002. The practical experience gained in private industry while working with the Optopig pipeline inspection tool was extremely useful when designing and building the Langmuir probe. I would not have managed to nish the probe in the short time available without the ballast gained at NEO. The autumn 2003 and spring 2004 terms were spent at UNIS in Longyearbyen. I would like to thank Dag Lorentzen, Fred Sigernes, Stefan Claes and Jeff Holmes for a very interesting and fruitful year. I am very grateful for getting practical hands-on experience in optical observation techniques at the Auroral Station in Adventdalen during the 2003-04 season, both when carrying out routine observations and during the SERSIO sounding rocket campaign in January. Berit Jakobsen at the UNIS library has been a good ally, helpful with ordering litterature. I would also thank Dr David J. Knudsen at the University of Calgary for permitting me to work with the thesis report while testing particle detectors for the Canadian Electric Field Instrument, which will be launched on ESAs Swarm scientic satellites. Dr Trond S. Trondsen has introduced me to some of the advanced nesses for writing documents in latex. Thanks to a very generous grant from the Norwegian Polar Institutes Forskning i Arktisscholarship, I could go to Ny-lesund in June 2003 and see how the MIDAS payloads were integrated. First-hand advance knowledge of the available facilities and routines was essential when I prepared my own instrument. This grant was also used to pay travel and living expenses during the launch campaign in November. I want to thank Gudmund Hansen and the other engineers and scientists for providing a good, calm and collected work environment. At last, but certainly not the least, Id like to thank my dear friend Edith for encouragement and support when my days have been dark. Calgary, October 2005 Johnny Grneng Aase

ix

Abstract
The purpose of this Master project is to develop a prototype Langmuir probe (LP) for the ICI-1 (Investigation of Cusp Irregularities) sounding rocket. The instrument should obtain an electron density prole of the polar cusp ionosphere over Svalbard at altitudes between 90 and 300 km, and as such resolve high frequency (HF) backscatter targets in the F layer. The rockets spin rate and attitude would be determined from the wake effect modulated on the electron density data. My working hypothesis is that the Langmuir probe will measure large-, meso-, and microscale variations in the electron density, and that the scale length of the micro-scale structures in the irregularitiy will decrease with increasing latitude. The probe will observe a minimum in electron density when it passes through the rockets wake. The work began in the end of January 2003. The Langmuir probe was tested at Andya Rocket Range (ARR) in early October, and own to the Svalrak launch site in Ny-lesund in the middle of November for integration into the ICI-1 payload cylinder. ICI-1 was launched on November 28th, 2003. Loss of telemetry occured 17 seconds after launch during the burn period of the Improved Orion second stage. No scientic data were returned. The Langmuir probe was a hollow 30 millimeter diameter aluminium sphere. It was mounted on a deployable instrument boom. The electron-collecting hemisphere was biased with a +3.3V voltage. The current generated by impacting electrons was converted into a voltage signal, which was ltered and sampled at 2 kHz. Near apogee the resolution would have been half a meter. The bootstrapping technique, which is being used in e.g. the Cluster E-eld instruments, has been modied and implemented in this Langmuir probe. The work has involved obtaining and studying relevant literature about Langmuir probes, instrument design and the conditions in the ionosphere; planning, designing and building analog and digital electronics and hardware, teaching myself VHDL-programming (Very high speed integrated circuits Hardware Description Language), simulations and practical tests. Two terms were spent at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) in Longyearbyen, attending courses about the middle and upper polar atmosphere. The two courses provided background knowledge necessary for a postight data analysis.

Samandrag
Dette hovudfagsarbeidet har gtt ut p utvikle ei prototype Langmuir-sonde (LP) til forskningsraketten ICI-1 (Investigation of Cusp Irregularities) for mle elektrontettleiken i polarklfta over Svalbard. Instrumentet hadde to vitskaplege oppgver. Det primre mlet var danne ein detaljert prol av elektrontettleiken mellom 90 og 300 km. Dette ville gje informasjon om grenseskikt og strukturar inne i ein irregularitet i F-laget av ionosfra. Det sekundre mlet var samle inn data som kunne gje informasjon om spinnet og orienteringa til raketten. Hypotesen min er at Langmuir-proben vil nne store, mellomstore og sm strukturar i elektrontettleiken. Skalalengda til dei sm strukturane i ein irregularitet vil minske med aukande breiddegrad. Eg rekna med observere eit minimum i elektrontettleiken nr proben passerer gjennom virvelstraumen fr raketten. Arbeidet tok til i andre halvdel av januar 2003. Instrumentet vart testa p Andya Rakettskytefelt (ARS) tidleg i oktober. Integrasjonen i ICI-1 tok til i Ny-lesund i midten av november. Raketten vart skoten opp den 28. november. Telemetrien forsvann etter 17 sekund. ICI-1 returnerte ingen vitskaplege data. Langmuir-sonda var ei innhol aluminiumskule med diameter 30 millimeter. Instrumentet var montert p ein utfellbar bom. Ei halvkule var forspent med ei spenning p +3.3 V. Denne trakk til seg negativt ladde elektron. Nr elektrona traff sensoren ville dei sette opp ein elektrisk straum. Denne vart konvertert til ei spenning, som s vart ltrert og mlt med ein frekvens p 2 kHz. Ved toppen av bana ville mlingane hatt ei romleg opplysing p ein halv meter. Bootstrapping-teknikken, som er brukt i E-feltinstrumenta p Cluster-satellittane, er vidareutvikla for bruk i Langmuirprober og implementert i dette instrumentet. Arbeidet har gtt ut p f tak i og studere relevant litteratur om Langmuirsonder og om tilhva i ionosfra; planlegging og produksjon av analog og digital elektronikk og mekanikk, tileigning p eiga hand grunnleggande kunnskap om VHDL-programmering (Very High Speed Integrated Circuits Hardware Description Language) og gjennomfring av simuleringar og praktiske testar. Hausten 2003 og vren 2004 vart nytta til ta faga i arktisk geofysikk AGF-210 (The middle polar atmosphere) og AGF-301 (The upper polar atmosphere) ved Universitetsstudiene p Svalbard (UNIS) i Longyearbyen. Desse kursa gav bakgrunnskunnskap om tilhva i hgdeomrdet ICI-1 skulle freta mlingar i, noko som ville vere naudsynt i ein dataanalyse.

Chapter 1

Introduction
The purpose of this Master thesis work is to develop a prototype Langmuir probe for the ICI-1 sounding rocket. The Langmuir probe would continuously measure the electron density (Ne ) in the polar cusp ionosphere during the rockets ascent and descent. The prime objective of this instrument was to obtain a detailed electron density prole in the altitude range from 90 to approximately 300 km, and as such resolve the structure of high frequency (HF) radar backscatter targets. These irregularities, which are often referred to as patches, are regions of enhanced plasma density in the polar cap ionosphere. ICI-1 was equipped with neither sun nor star sensors. The second objective was to provide information about the rockets spin and attitude. This information could be deduced from the wake effect modulated onto the density prole. The work has involved obtaining and studying relevant literature about Langmuir probes, instrument design and the conditions in the ionosphere; planning, designing and building analog and digital electronics and hardware, VHDL-programming, simulations, practical tests and active participation in the launch campaign. I have not found any papers that describe in detail how to build a Langmuir probe, so the work has been an exercise of trial and error. The bootstrapping technique, which has previously been used on e.g. the Cluster E-eld instruments, has been modied and implemented in this probe. To the best of my knowledge, this has never been done before with Langmuir probes. The Langmuir probe technique is based on H. M. Mott-Smith and Irving Langmuirs paper The theory of collectors in gaseous discharges, which was published in 1926: When a cylindrical or spherical electrode (collector) immersed in an ionized gas is brought to a suitable potential, it becomes surrounded by a symmetrical space-charge region or sheath of positive or of negative ions (or electrons). Assuming that the gas pressure is so low that the proportion of ions which collide with gas molecules in the sheath is negligibly small, the current taken by the collector can be calculated in terms of the radii of the collector or sheath, the distribution of velocities among the ions arriving at the sheath boundary and the total drop of potential in the sheath. The current is independent of the actual distribution of potential in the sheath provided this distribution satises certain conditions. In this classic paper, Mott-Smith and Langmuir derive expressions for this current and carry out calculations for collectors in a group of ions having equal and parallell velocities, velocities equal in magnitude but of random direction, Maxwellian velocity distribution and Maxwellian velocity distribution with a drift velocity superimposed. In all of the four cases discussed the collector current is practically independent of the radius of the sheath when this radius is large compared with that of the collector. The rst Langmuir probes were own in Earth orbit in 1959, and such instruments have been used on many satellites and interplanetary space probes since then. Between 1978 and 1992 Langmuir probes on NASAs (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Pioneer Venus Orbiter measured the total solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) ux at Venus based on the amplitude of the photo emission current from one of the collectors. 1

ICI-1 would y through a cusp irregularity and with its suite of instruments make detailed measurements of electron and ion densities, electric elds, eld-aligned Birkeland currents and magnetic eld uctuations. It is anticipated that HF cusp irregularities occur at altitudes above 250 km. The scale length of irregularities giving rise to HF backscatter is half the radar wavelength, i.e. in the decameter range. The Langmuir probe should provide in-situ measurements with half-meter resolution near apogee. To the best of my knowledge, this has never been done before. If the launch had been successful, this work would also have included an analysis of the returned data. The fall 2003 and spring 2004 terms were scheduled to be spent at UNIS in Longyearbyen, where I attended the courses AGF-210 (The middle polar atmosphere) and AGF-301 (The upper polar atmosphere) to get more knowledge about the medium that the rocket would investigate. Due to problems experienced with the electronics, a major part of the fall term was spent in Oslo. When the work began in January 2003, it was foreseen that the Langmuir probe would share encoder interface with the University of Oslo E-eld instrument. The electronics of the two instruments would be integrated on the same printed circuit board (PCB). The Langmuir probe analog to digital (AD) converter would be controlled by the same FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that ran the E-eld experiment. The E-eld would use most of the available power and bandwidth. The Langmuir probe had to buffer the data, and sample only during short burst during the ight. During winter 2003 it was decided that the two University of Oslo instruments should be mounted in separate boxes, each with its own individual encoder interface. This decision simplied the work, and allowed continuous measurements. The AGF-210 course began in the middle of August 2003, and the boards had to be nished by then. The facilities for building this kind of electronics are not available at UNIS. The instrument was nished in early August. The second half of August and early September was spent teaching myself VHDL programming and developing software for the instrument. The charge-collecting sphere and electronics boxes were nished in September. I returned to Oslo to integrate the hardware with the electronics and continue testing. The experiment was tested using the actual ight encoder at ARR in early October. The test revealed that the AD converter did not function as anticipated. The sampled signal was distorted. After the tests at ARR I once again went back to Oslo to solve the problem experienced with the analog to digital converter. Work was done to investigate and solve the problem, but with no result. Due to the short time left to launch, and with no obvious solution at hand to solve the AD converter problem, I decided to hardwire the output from the Langmuir probe directly to the encoder input. The resolution was then reduced from 16 to 12 bits, but this was considered as good enough. Another consequence of this decision was that the main electronics PCB (printed circuit board) was only converting the supplied voltage from the encoder, and supplied the preamplier electronics with the necessary voltages. This was frustrating considering all the time spent designing the board, but it was necessary to obtain any useful data. I considered using more time to look for new solutions, but decided to stop testing so the encoder could be properly reprogrammed while it was still at ARR. The new arrangement was recommended by my supervisors, but the decision was mine and mine alone. It is my responsibility that the resolution of the data was reduced from 16 to 12 bits resolution. The telemetry was lost 17 seconds after launch. The Langmuir probe did not return any scientic data. The materials, mechanical work and components cost approximately 18.500 Norwegian crowns. This report is organized in ve principal parts. Expected observations and a hypothesis about the conditions in the irregularity that the Langmuir probe could potentially falsify are stated in Chapter 2. This chapter also discusses the initial plans and quanties the requirements that the instrument electronics had to meet in order to carry out these measurements. The expected currents and slew rates are calculated, and two different ways to plot and interpret the wake effect are described. The location of the Langmuir probe is discussed, and calculations are carried out 2

to determine whether or not the probe measurements will be corrupted by turbulence from the E-eld booms. Chapter 3 is a general discussion of the environment of near-Earth space, important plasma parameters and terminology. Chapter 4 provides an introduction to ionospheric patches. Some important case studies are also being referred to. A reader only interested in the technical aspects of the Langmuir probe may wish to skip chapters 3 and 4. Chapters 5 to 8 discuss sounding rockets and the Hotel Payload concept, telemetry, important issues that should be remembered when designing electronics and instruments for space and high-altitude applications, and Langmuir probe theory. Chapter 9 describes the electronics, properties and test results for the individual instrument components. Chapter 10 describes the hardware, while the vibration tests are discussed in chapter 11. Chapter 12 deals with the activities in Ny-lesund and the report from the inquiry board that was set up to investigate the launch failure. Chapter 13 discusses of some of the problems Ive encountered during the work. Design errors and weaknesses are identied, and a number of improvements that should be considered implemented in the next generations of the instrument are described. The two most urgent changes are to develop a two- or three-channel probe to improve the resolution of the electron density measurements, and to provide the instrument with the capability of sending status information while on the launch pad. The Langmuir probe measured as expected a zero current prior to launch. This is an ambiguous result - it may also mean that the instrument is no longer functioning on the launch pad. Most of the available literature on Langmuir probes is highly theoretical. I have tried to write and organise this report so it can give practical guidance to future students and engineers that are building a Langmuir probe. I believe that the main components of the instrument are successfully identied, but it is too early to declare the instrument as operational. It should be regarded as a prototype until it has made at least one successful ight. Schemes, calculations, pictures, design les and litterature references can be found in the appendices.

Chapter 2

Hypothesis and probe design considerations

2.1 Hypothesis
The ICI-1 rocket was launched when the interplanetary magnetic eld was directed southwards (IMF Bz < 0). There then exist both a large-scale plasma density gradient south of the polar cusp and a northward plasma drift into the polar cap (J. Moen, private communication). My hypothesis is that the Langmuir probe would observe the following variations in the electron density: The density would vary with altitude, with a maximum in the F2 layer between 250 and 300 km (large-scale). The instrument would pass through a plasma density gradient of a patch structure with scale length 100-1000 km (meso-scale). In the interior of the patch the observations would reveal irregularities with scale length down to 10-15 m (micro-scale). An observation to test the gradient drift instability is based upon the assumption that the plasma structure will crumble and disintegrate when the density gradient is generated. The irregularity scale length measured by the Langmuir probe will then decrease with increasing latitude.

2.2 Starting point

According to the plan drawn up in December 2002, the Langmuir probe and the E-eld experiment would be placed in one single instrument box. This 20 mm high box had to t into a payload with 200 mm outer diameter. The two experiments would share a bitrate of 150 kbps. They could draw up to 200 mA current, with a possible margin of 100 mA. If this requirement was not met, a heavier battery package would be required. The encoder would deliver 28 V power. The E-eld instrument would use most of the available current and bandwidth. The Langmuir probe had to buffer the 16-bit resolution data in a FIFO (rst in rst out) and transmit in short burst during the ight. The two instruments would share encoder interface. The charge-collecting probe was to be mounted on the same deployable instrument boom as the French Current Density Coil (CDC). A smaller instrument box containing the preamplier would be placed in the vicinity of the probe. This piece of electronics would facilitate current to voltage conversion, provide a bias voltage for the charge-collecting probe and amplify the signal before it was forwarded to the main electronics in the instrument section. 4

2.3 Basic requirements

The Langmuir probe should record the conditions in its surroundings as accurately as possible. The input range must be sufciently large for the instrument to measure the currents set up by the electrons without saturating, and have dynamic properties to record fast changes produced by postulated ne-scale structures in the cusp irregularity. A rst approximation is to determine the conditions in the quiet ionosphere. The amplitude of the current signal, which is discussed in Section 8.2, depends on both local electron density and temperature [82]. The two parameters were calculated by using the IRI-95 (International Reference Ionosphere) model, which is available from the internet [52]. The characteristics of the quiet ionosphere were simulated at three different dates in the beginning, middle and end of the launch window. Simulations were done for approximately every 25 km between 140 and 320 km altitude with hourly intervals between 0800 and 1200 UT (universal time), and are shown in Appendix D. 140 km was the lowest altitude included in the model available in early 2003. The electron temperatures and densities for 12 UT on Dec 1st, 2003 are plotted in Figures 2.1 and 2.2. Among the three data sets, these calculations are believed to be the ones closest to the actual values at the time of launch. The three data sets are however quite similar.

Figure 2.1: IRI-95 electron temperature at 12 UT Dec 1st, 2003 Figure 2.3 shows a tomographic image of electron densities in an irregularity. It is obtained by a DMSP (Defence Meteorological Satellite Program) satellite that crossed 78 degrees N at 0840 UT on 10 December, 1997 [108]. This image has not sufcient resolution to show any of the proposed 10-15 meter micro-scale structures, but gives useful information about large-scale structures. The electron density is less than 1.0 1011 m3 up to approximately 170 km, and reaches a maximum of at least 4.5 1011 m3 near 230 km altitude. This particular irregularity has two maxima, one at 79 degrees N and one at 80 degrees N. Most of the irregularity is conned between 170 and 300 km altitude. 5

Figure 2.2: IRI-95 electron density at 12 UT Dec 1st, 2003

Figure 2.3: DMSP tomographic image of cusp irregularity

Alt 175 200 225 250 275 300 275 250 225 200 175

T 110 120 142 169 200 276 333 369 400 417 431

V 1580 1490 1285 1000 716 388 716 1000 1285 1490 1580

Ne [1011 ] 1.5 2.5 4.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 2.0 2.5 1.5 1.0 0.5

Te 3500 3500 4500 5000 4500 4000 3500 3500 3500 3500 3500

I [A] 3.1 5.2 9.4 11.1 9.4 7.8 4.1 5.2 3.1 2.1 1.0

Vout [V] 0.1 0.23 0.32 0.36 0.32 0.30 0.19 0.23 0.1 0.08 0.05

SR [mV/s] 13 4 1.5 1.3 0.3 2 1 4 1 2 -

Table 2.1: Current-to-voltage converter slew rates (SR)

This image can be used to estimate some of the requirements that the probe has to meet. The dynamic requirements at different altitudes are estimated from the changes in rocket velocity, electron density and electron temperature. Data about the rockets nominal velocity and altitute are derived from Figures C.1 and C.2. I assume that the ascent takes place vertically along 79 degrees latitude in Figure 2.3, while descent is at 78 degrees N. This simulates a ight where the vehicle passes through the irregularity during ascent and descents through the equatorward part of the aurora oval. To the best knowledge of this author, no ne-resolution electron temperature prole is available from the interior of a polar cusp irregularity. The electron temperature in the F layer varies between 2000 and 5000 K. One can assume that the temperature in an irregularity is above 30004000 K (Prof J. Moen, private communication). In the following calculations I assume that the regions with highest electron densities also have the highest temperatures. Electron densities below 3.5 1011 m3 are assigned a temperature of 3500K, between 3.5 and 4.0 1011 m3 4000 K, between 4.0 and 4.5 1011 m3 4500 K, and for densities above this 5000 K. The current at different altitudes is calculated by using Equation 8.1, and the corresponding output voltage is calculated from a PSpice simulation of the preamplier circuit (Figure 9.8). In this piecewise linear approach the required slew rates (SR) are calculated by dividing the voltage difference at different altitudes with the ight time between the different altitudes. The results are presented in Table 2.1. The slew rate can be dened as the magnitude of the maximum rate of change of the output voltage from an opamp ([43], p 485). Most components will meet slew rates in the mV/s range. The actual slew rate of the AD8552 is 0.4 V/s [8], while the rate of the AD620 is at least 0.75 V/s [7]. To proceed further, one has to make assumptions about the physical properties of the proposed micro-scale structures. According to the hypothesis, their scale lengths are as small as 10-15 m. Let us assume electron densities of 1012 m3 in such a structure, and 4.5 1011 m3 in its immediate surroundings. The respective electron temperatures are assumed to be 5000 and 4500 K. To simplify the calculations, this micro-scale structure is assumed to be located at an altitude of 250 km, where the rockets velocity is 1000 m/s. With a sampling frequency of 2kHz, the distance travelled between each sample is then 0.5 m. This situation is illustrated in Figure 2.4. The Langmuir probe will then measure a current of 25.0 A in the densest part of the irregularity, and 11 A outside this maximum. The corresponding output voltages from the preamplier are 0.9 and 0.35 V. Assuming that the distance between these two points in space is 10 meters, the slew rate of the current to voltage converter must be at least 5.5 V/s. It should be stressed that these calculations are based upon assumptions with unknown uncertainty from the available, low-resolution data. Unseen pockets of plasma with temperatures and densities higher than expected would reveal themselves as maxima or transients in the data. Following professor Pedersens advice, the Langmuir probe was designed to handle currents up 7

Figure 2.4: Situation at 250 km altitude to 100 A.

2.4 Wake effect measurements

ICI-1 had neither sun nor star sensors. Spin information would be derived from magnetometer data and wake effects modulated onto the Langmuir probe data. The wake would manifest itself as an amplitude minimum. An example of the wake effect is shown in Figure 2.5. These measurements were done by the University of Calgarys Suprathermal Ion Imager (UoC SII) instrument launched on the Joule sounding rocket from Poker Flat in 2002. This rocket had a lower spin rate than ICI-1. It is a clear correlation between total particle count and the sensors position relative to the ram-wake direction. Another example of wake effect observation is found in [96], and is reproduced in Figure 2.6. This paper describes wake effects observed by a fast impedance probe mounted on a sounding rocket launched from India as part of the Dynamics of the equatorial ionosphere over Shar (DEOS) campaign. At low altitudes (Figure 2.6.a), the rocket velocity vector is nearly aligned with the rocket axis. Shadowing by the payload is expected to be weak. The effect is stronger near apogee (Figure 2.6.b), where the velocity vector becomes perpendicular to the payload axis while the orientation of the rocket is maintained by spin stabilization. The DEOS sounding rocket was launced into the low-latitude ionosphere. It observed a density reduction in the wake of 16 %. The wake effect was more pronounced during the descent, 24-38 %. I have not found similar data from wake observations in the polar ionosphere. The observations would be used to look for altitude-dependent changes in wake depth, and if possible, compare with Langmuir probe data from earlier sounding rockets launched from e.g. 8

Figure 2.5: Wake effects observed by the Joule UoC SII instrument (Courtesy L. Sangalli)

Figure 2.6: Polar plot of wake effects observed from DEOS sounding rocket

Ny-lesund, Fort Churchill or Poker Flat. 9

2.5 Probe location

Figure 2.7: Sketch of ICI-1 payload - front view

Figure 2.8: Sketch of ICI-1 payload - side view The Langmuir probe was mounted on the same deployable instrument boom as the French Current Density Coil (Figures 2.7, 2.8 and 5.2). This boom was oriented at 270 degrees in the payload conguration. Two University of Oslo (UoO) E-eld booms were located at 225 and 315 degrees (Figure 2.7). The vertical distance between the deployed booms were 1 meter (Figure 2.8). The measurements would be corrupted if the Langmuir probe were in the turbulent E-eld boom wake. There were no computer models available that could determine whether or not the wake from the two nearest booms would have an inuence on the Langmuir probe measurements. 10

Figure 2.9: E-eld boom wake angle Alt [km] 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 Ti [K] 417 614 707 751 832 913 994 1076 Te [K] 417 643 933 1233 1532 1832 2131 2382 vs [m/s] 3389 4160 4752 5227 5706 6148 6560 6900 v [m/s] 1859 1690 1500 1352 1200 957 718 380 a [deg] 33 24 18 15 12 9 6 3

Table 2.2: Wake angles

A simple approach is to estimate the size of the shockfront and wake behind these booms. When an object passes through a plasma, the angle a between the center axis of the shock cone and the shock front can be calculated by using the formula [113] (Figure 2.9). sina = v vs (2.1)

vs is the local speed of sound, and v is the speed of the object. The speed of sound in a plasma is given by the relation
2 vs =

k(Te + Ti ) mp

(2.2)

= the adiabatic constant (5/3), k = Boltzmanns constant, Ti = ion temperature, Te = electron temperature, and mp = proton mass. Ti and Te were obtained by using the IRI-95 model. The calculations in Table 2.2 show that the wake is getting narrower with increasing altitude. This is plotted in Figure 2.10. The wake is rather wide at low altitudes, and might have inuence on the density measurements. In the most interesting altitude region, above 200 km, the Langmuir probe was however expected to be outside the turbulence from the E-eld booms. 11

Figure 2.10: E-eld boom wake angle

2.6 Chapter summary

By analysing a satellite observation of an ionospheric irregularity and making estimates of electron temperatures and densities, one can calculate the dynamic properties the Langmuir probe has to meet. Most electronic components meet these requirements. The currents measured by this one-channel instrument are expected to be below 25 A, but it can also record currents up to 100 A. These results will be used in Chapter 9. There is a risk that the measurements are corrupted by the turbulence from the E-eld booms, but the size of this wake is expected to be sufciently reduced with increasing altitude. The physical conditions experienced in the altitude range where the Langmuir probe would carry out measurements are discussed further in Chapters 3 and 4. The next chapter also gives a brief introduction to the solar wind, the interplanetary magnetic eld, the cusp and important plasma parameters.

12

Chapter 3

High-altitude physical conditions

3.1 The Earths magnetic eld
Near the Earth the magnetic eld resembles that of a magnetic dipole (Figure 3.1). The dipole approximation is valid up to a distance of four Earth radii from the surface [32]. The radius of the Earth (RE ) is 6400 km, so the entire ight would take place within the sphere where the simple dipole model is accurate. The eld is strongest in the vicinity of the poles (60 000 nT), and has a minimum near the equator (30 000 nT). The magnetic eld lines penetrate the Earths surface around the magnetic poles. The magnetic south pole is situated in the Canadian Arctic, while the magnetic north pole is located at the Adelie Coast in Antarctica. The eld lines are by convention directed towards the Earth on the northern hemisphere. The magnetic axis does not pass through the Earths geometric center. This offset is however too small to be seen in Figure 3.1.

3.2 The solar wind and IMF

The solar wind is a ow of plasma expelled at high velocity from the Sun. This is not a steady particle wind; it shows signicant variations in both density and velocity. During quiet conditions the wind has an average speed of 400 km/s. It consists mainly of protons and electrons in the same amount. The density varies between 106 and 2 107 m3 . The average energy of the protons is about 1 keV and for the electrons 1 eV [22]. The solar wind also carries the interplanetary magnetic eld. The eld strength varies between 0.2 and 80 nT, with an average of 6 nT [77]. The solar wind interacts with the Earths magnetosphere, and pulls it into a long tail in the anti-sunward direction (Figure 3.2, [74]). The transition region between the interplanetary magnetic eld and the Earths magnetic eld is called the magnetopause. The location of this boundary depends on the strength of the solar wind. The interplanetary eld is separated into three orthogonal components. The most interesting one in this discussion is the Bz -component, which is directed in the north-south direction. A magnetic reconnection on the sunward side of the Earth can take place when Bz < 0. This situation is shown in Figure 3.2. The IMF and the Earths magnetic eld then merge. Particles carried by the solar wind spiral around the eld lines down towards the Earth. Due to interactions between the solar wind and the Earths magnetic eld, magnetospheric boundary layers are formed on the sunward side of the magnetopause. There are basically two reservoirs of particles populating these boundary regions: trapped energetic electrons and ions on closed magnetic eld lines, and shocked solar wind particles on opened eld lines connected to the interplanetary magnetic eld. The most comprehensive statistical work on particle pre13

Figure 3.1: The Earths dipole magnetic eld

Figure 3.2: The Earths magnetosphere

14

cipitation characteristics was done by [71]. Newell and Mengs map of dayside boundary layer regions is presented in Figure 3.3.

3.3 The LLBL, cusp and mantle

The cusp is a conned region with near zero magnetic eld. Figure 3.2 shows the location of this funnel-shaped region in the magnetosphere, while Figure 3.3 shows its position relative to the other dayside auroral precipitation regions. It extends about 2.5 hours in local time, but only 0.5 degrees or less in latitude. It is however not possible to discern the cusp from the LLBL (Low Latitude Boundary Layer) when observed from the ground, and the two regions are often looked upon as one (Prof. J. Moen, private communication). This combined region extends from 9 to 15 MLT (magnetic local time). The cusp constitutes a direct entry region for magnetosheat plasma into the magnetosphere. Entry into a region is considered more direct if more particles make it in (the number ux is higher) and if such particles maintain more of their original energy spectral characteristics [81]. The cusp electrons have low energy. In a quiet cusp their energies are < 0.2 keV, while it typically increases to < 2 keV for an active cusp [24].

Figure 3.3: Dayside auroral precipitation regions (Newell and Meng, 1992)

3.4 Particle stopping altitude

A particles penetration depth into the ionosphere depends upon its energy. Precipitating charged particles in the ionosphere experience elastic and inelastic collisions with the atmospheric constituents [24]. The altitude prole of the aurora can be used to get an approximation of the particle penetration depth, as shown in Figure 3.4 [58]. On the nightside there are few auroras below 100 km altitude, while the dayside lower altitude is approximately 120 km. 15

Figure 3.4: Altitude distribution of day- and nightside auroras

3.5 Electron density and temperature

The ionosphere can be dened as the atmospheric region where the concentration of free electrons is sufcient to deect radio waves [32]. It is created by energetic electromagnetic and particle radiation that ionize the air molecules. The plasma is weakly ionized. The ratio between the electron concentration and density of non-ionized air molecules is < 107 m3 . The density depends on whether the region is sunlit or not, or if the sun is experiencing a maximum or minimum. A schematic electron density prole of the Earths ionosphere (Figure 3.5, [90]) shows three distinct regions of increased density. They are created by different kinds of radiation and vary with local time and latitude. D layer (50 - 95 km) E layer (95 - 150 km) F layer (150 - 500 km) The F layer is the most interesting one for this project. This layer is created when O and N2 absorb EUV radiation (10 nm < < 90 nm) [32]. It is customary to divide it further into two separate layers, F1 and F2. 16

Figure 3.5: The ionospheric layers The F1 layer has a maximum near 170 km altitude, while the F2 density peaks around 250 km. Between 200 and 300 km the electron density is in the order of 1011 particles per m3 , and can reach 1012 [22]. The sketch in Figure 3.5 shows neither diurnal variations nor effects from high-latitude particle precipitation. The natural uctuations of the electron density (Ne ), electron temperature (Te ) and ion temperature (Ti ) are illustrated in Figure 3.6, which shows 24 hours of EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter) UHF (ultra-high frequency) radar observarions in the auroral ionosphere [38]. These proles were obtained in February 1997. The panels represent heigth proles between 100 and 600 km. On the dayside (right-hand side of the uppermost panel) there is a Ne enhancement around 300 km altitude. The heating just above it reveals the ionization production due to the photo-ionization process. The nightside reveals a very structured ionization production in the E-region which correlates with a similarly structured electron heating in the F-region.

3.6 Plasma characteristics

3.6.1 Cyclotron frequency
As noted in Section 3.2, solar wind particles can spiral along the Earths magnetic eld lines after a reconnection has occurred. The frequency of the circular motion is determined the expression 17

Figure 3.6: Ne , Te and Ti during normal polar ionospheric conditions

|q|B (3.1) m If we set that q = 1.6 1019 C, m = me = 9,11 1031 kg and that the intensity of the magnetic eld is 50 000 nT, we nd the cyclotron frequency fc of the electron c = fc = c = 1.4M Hz 2 (3.2)

3.6.2 Cyclotron radius

The radius of the spiralling motion is determined by the particles velocity perpendicular to the magnetic eld vperp , its mass, charge and the magnitude of the magnetic eld B mvperp vperp = (3.3) c qB This quantity has been given different names cyclotron radius, gyroradius or Larmor radius. C =

18

3.6.3 Debye-length
The Debye length is dened as the distance from an object where the potential has dropped to 1/e of the potential at the objects surface. It is looked upon as a fundamental shielding distance. The magnitude of the Debye length gives an estimate of the spatial scale over which a plasma ion has an inuence on its surroundings. A plasma conducts electricity, but a volume with dimensions larger than a Debye-length (D ) exhibits electrically neutral behavior. At distances shorter than D , the particles react individually to a disturbance like an electrical eld [76] The Debye length is given by the formula D =
0 kTe Ne q 2

(3.4)

Here 0 is the permittivity in vacuum, k is Boltzmans constant, Te is the electron temperature, Ne is the electron density and q is the unit charge. The Debye length is less than 1 cm near ICI-1s apogee. In reality, the shielding distance may be three to four D (A. Pedersen, private communication).

3.7 Chapter summary

This chapter describes briey the conditions in the altitude region where the Langmuir probe would carry out its measurements. The electron density depends on altitude, diurnal variations and high-latitude particle precipitation. The rocket would y through an irregularity. The properties of such patches and some important case studies are discussed in Chapter 4. The Debye-length is an important plasma parameter for Langmuir probe measurements. This will be discussed further in Chapter 8.

19

Chapter 4

Patches
4.1 Introduction
Patches are regions of enhanced plasma density in the polar cap ionosphere [108]. The densities can often triple, and in extreme cases switch between 1010 and 1012 m3 [25]. They occur when IMF Bz < 0. Patch sizes are in the range 100-1000 km. They are observed drifting with the antisunward convection across the polar cap at a representative speed of 1 km/s. This movement is consistent with the two-cell anti-sunward plasma ow patterns identied by [45] and [47]. Patches exit the polar cap near midnight during magnetic substorms. It is still unclear what happens with them when being exposed to the strong electrodynamics within the midnight auroral oval. Patches were rst observed in the 1950s [106] as scintillations in signals from radio stars and polar orbiting satellites. They are observed by incoherent scatter radar, HF radar, radio scintillations, ionosondes and all-sky imaging photometers. Observations are done from both ground and satellites. Different observation techniques use individual criteria to dene patches. An attempt at a formal denition is given by [28]. Plasma enhancements observed by radio techniques should according to Crowleys denition only be called patches if they are at least a factor of two above the background density and at least 100 km in diameter. For observations of the 630.0 nm airglow due to radiative recombination of O+ , a patch should be at least 50 Rayleigh and more than 50 % above the background brightness.

4.2 Observations
The experimental evidence for patches is in the form of individual case studies [108], [67]. Regions of enhanced F-layer plasma convect from the dayside into the cusp/throat region [40], [55], [111] and [85]. The electron densities are similar to those at dayside sub-auroral latitudes. A proposed production mechanism is that solar-produced plasma becomes entrained in the high-latitude convection system. This feeds an appendix-shaped tongue-of-ionisation into the polar cap [23]. Time-varying changes to the convection pattern cut off pieces of this tongue. These independent regions of plasma are observed as patches. Changes in the IMF By and Bz components could chip off pieces of the ionisation tongue. Modellers have demonstrated that changes in the IMF could result in discrete patches that are similar to those observed experimentally (e.g. [10], [93], [94], [30]). The transient reconnection associated with ux transfer events as a possible mechanism has been invoked by [60]. 20

 [88] found that typical latitudinal electron density gradients may not be sufcient to explain patch formation by rapid changes in the IMF. Other explanations for the tongue of ionisation break-up include more localised convection effects, like short-lived convection jets linked to ow-channel events [88] or travelling twin-convection vortices [92]. Fast plasma ows associated with such phenomena generate localised Joule heating, with a rise in plasma temperature leading in turn to an enhanced ion-recombination rate [107]. Local erosion of the plasma density may cause segmentation of the tongue of ionisation into discrete patches. [16] found a near collocation of regions of broad Doppler spectra and regions of cusp particle precipitation. [89] used wide spectral widths to identify the radar cusp. When IMF Bz < 0, they found that the southern boundary of the HF radar cusp was located on average 0.5 degrees equatorward of the optical cusp. [112] found that strong HF backscatter echoes and auroras moving in the anti-sunward direction had a near collocation with energy dispersion ions for a DMSP satellite observation of the winter cusp over Svalbard. [64] combined CUTLASS (Co-operative UK Twin Auroral Sounding System) HF backscatter and Ny-lesund scanning photometer observations. The meridian sweeping photometer measured dayside 630.0 nm aurora. They reported a collocation of equatorward radar and optical cusp boundaries. The two boundaries also showed the same motion. [66] combined 2-D all-sky cameras and CUTLASS Finland radar observations over Svalbard. They found that once HF backscatter is established, the optical cusp is characterised by a band of high backscatter power and wide spectral widths. Spectral widths 220 m/s was reported as an indicator of backscatter from the radar cusp. By using this result, one found very good alignment of the boundary of the region with this spectral width and the southern boundary of the 630.0 nm cusp aurora. The two boundaries were both uneven and moved rapidly. [65] combined CUTLASS radar observations with tomographic imaging of the electron density distribution in the ionosphere above Svalbard. This was a test of the potential role of the gradient drift instability as an irregularity-generating process. They concluded that these tools were not able to observe the distribution at a sufciently ne scale, and that in-situ observations were necessary to proceed further. [61] obtained optical ground-based signatures of drifting airglow patches in the polar ionospheric F-layer in the evening/nighttime MLT sector. The patch altitude, meridional convection speed, and repetition rate were investigated using a MSP (meridian scanning photometer), and put into the context of activity changes in the auroral substorm. The meridional patch speed was modulated by onboing substorms, and that patches crossed the open/closed eld line boundary (OCB). They propose that patches can be used as a tracer for tail reconnection when they cross the OCB and enter the nighttime auroral oval. The structure of an irregularity observed over Svalbard in December 1997 [108] is discussed in Chapter 2 to dene the requirements the electronics of the Langmuir probe had to meet. Details from this case study will not be repeated here.

21

Chapter 5

The sounding rocket

5.1 Introduction
Sounding rockets are suborbital vehicles that are used for atmospheric and space research. They are often used to investigate phenomena in the middle and upper atmosphere between the maximum altitude of balloons (about 50 km) and the minimum altitude of Earth-orbiting satellites (160 km) [70]. A particular advantage of sounding rockets is that they can be launched into localized phenomena such as auroral displays and solar eclipses. A sounding rocket consists of two fundamental parts - the rocket motor and the payload. Different rocket congurations have been developed to reach certain altitude ranges. Small singlestage rockets can reach altitudes of 10-100 km, while large four-stage congurations like Black Brant XII are capable of reaching altitudes of 1500 km [53]. For comparison, the International Space Stations orbital altitude range is 350-460 km [35]. Nearly all sounding rockets are unguided, n-stabilized vehicles. All current sounding rockets use solid propellant rocket motors. Surplus military rocket motors from retired missiles are used in most sounding rockets, as they are thoroughly tested, relatively affordable and plentiful. The scientic experiments, the encoder, batteries and the telemetry system are mounted in the payload section. Some payloads also contain a parachute and recovery system.

5.2 The Hotel Payload concept

The Hotel Payload concept is developed by Andya Rocket Range, and is a new, cost-effective tool for reaching the E and F layers [11]. The payload section has a diameter of 200 mm. A 356 mm (14 inches) version is being developed [14]. Figure 5.1 shows ICI-1 on the launcher in Ny-lesund. ARR provides the rocket motor, the payload mechanical structure, housekeeping systems and is responsible for the complete launch service. The Hotel Payload has standardized experiment interfaces.

5.2.1 Nike
The rst stage of ICI-1s two-stage launch vehicle was a Nike motor. The burning time of this stage is 3.52 s. Flight events, like the ignition and burn-out of the rocket stages, are summarized in Table C.1. This table also includes the ight time, altitude, range and velocity for each event.

5.2.2 Improved Orion

The second stage, an Improved Orion motor, has two burning phases. The duration of the booster phase is 4 seconds, while the sustainer phase lasts 21.4 seconds. The acceleration 22

Figure 5.1: ICI-1 prior to launch (Courtesy T. Angeltveit) prole of the Nike-Improved Orion constellation is shown in Figure C.3. A conical adapter is mounted on the top of the Improved Orion, and provides an interface for the different diameters of the Improved Orion and the Hotel Payload instrument section. The conical adapter used on ICI-1 was made of spun carbon bres and aluminium.

5.3 Other experiments

ICI-1 carried ve experiments in addition to the Langmuir probe. Figure 5.2, which is based on an image by Trond Abrahamsen (ARR), shows the location of the individual instruments.

5.3.1 E-eld experiment

Alternating (AC) and direct current (DC) electric elds; developed by the University of Oslo.

5.3.2 PIP
Positive Ion Probe (PIP) built by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE). This experiment provided high resolution measurements of the ion density.

5.3.3 Solid state spectrometers

Solid state spectrometers for electrons and ions developed by the University of Bergen (UoB). 23

5.3.4 SCM
Search Coil Magnetometer (SCM) developed by Centre detude des Environments et Plantaires e (CEPT), France.

5.3.5 CDC
The Current Density Coil was another French instrument, developed by Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de lEnvironnement (LPCE). It was mounted on the tip of the same instrument boom as the Langmuir probe, and consist of one coil with its centre axis aligned with the centre axis of the rocket.

Figure 5.2: ICI-1s instrument payload

5.4 Chapter summary

The Hotel Payload concept is developed to provide affordable access to E and F layer altitudes. ICI-1 was equipped six instruments from Norway and France. Data from the scientic instruments and the rockets own housekeeping systems are transmitted to ground in real time. The telemetry system and encoder will be discussed in Chapter 6. Important factors to bear in mind when designing an instrument for high-altitude and space applications are discussed in Chapter 7, while Chapter 8 gives an introduction to the theory behind Langmuir probes.

24

Chapter 6

Telemetry and encoder

6.1 Telemetry
The purpose of the telemetry system is to transmit information from the sounding rocket to the ground. This is both scientic data and housekeeping information from the rockets internal systems. The telemetry is a one-way, simplex communication link. It was hence not possible to send any instructions to the Langmuir probe after ICI-1 had been launched. The telemetry system was crucial for a successful outcome of the Langmuir probe experiment and the entire ICI-1 mission. No attempt would be made to recover the hardware after splashdown, so any use of a mass storage was never an option. The data had to be transmitted to the ground in real time. One is usually able to track the vehicle during the descent until it passes below the local horizon. ICI-1 was tracked by an antenna located in Ny-lesund. The downlink frequency was 2279,5 MHz. For such high frequencies only line-of-sight communication is possible. The downlink data rate was 833,00 kbit/sec [12].

6.2 Telemetry format

Eight bits constitute a word. This is a suitable arrangement. The instruments often have an eight or 16 bit resolution. The pulse code modulation (PCM) format hierarchy of words, frames and format is illustrated in Figure 6.1 [33]. This example highlights word 4, picked from frame 2 in format 8. In ICI-1s nal telemetry format, one frame consisted of 96 words. 64 frames made up one format. The frame rate was 1085 Hz, while the format rate was 16,95 Hz. The format can be found in Appendix M. Figure 6.2 is an example of a simple telemetry format [29]. It shows words from various subsystems A, B, C, D, et.c. joined together to form a frame. The rst two words in each frame, S1 and S2, contain synchronizing patterns so the start of a frame can always be identied. The next word contains a frame counter. It is incremented by one for each frame so the position of any frame within the format can be identied. A frame in this example consists of 64 words. In the simplest case, data from 60 different sensors and systems could then be transmitted on the same channel. This is seldom the case in real life. Some instruments generate more data than others, and require more downlink bandwidth. Three situations are possible. Main commutation: The channel has a 1:1 commutation, i.e. it is present once in each frame. The frame counter has a main commutation. Supercommutation: When the data from an instrument channel occurs more than once in each frame, it is said to have a X:1 (X>1) supercommutation. The Langmuir probe had a 2:1 supercommutation in the nal ICI-1 telemetry format. 25

Figure 6.1: The PCM format hierarchy with words, frames and formats

Figure 6.2: Schematic telemetry format Subcommutation: The condition of the payload is continously monitored by the its housekeeping system. It is not always necessary to transmit this kind of data in every frame. Sometimes two or more subsystems share a communication channel. When the data from a subsystem occur in every Xth frame, it is said to have a subcommutation of 1:X (X>1). ICI-1s X-, Y-, and Z-axis accelerometers each had a 1:3 subcommutation. From a knowledge of the position of the subsystems data in the frame and the format counts, the identication and time of receipt of the data is unique as long as the format counter does not recycle. No error correction or detection algorithms were used on ICI-1, as these would require a twoway communication link. 26

6.3 Encoder
The encoder sampled the output from each instrument box and provided the electrical interface between the instrument and the rocket. In addition to the +28 V voltage and rocket ground, it provided four signals: SCLK - System clock with a frequency of 833 kHz and 50 % duty cycle. MINF - Minor frame; a pulse that synchronices the instrument to the minor frame rate (1085 frames/sec). MAJF - Major frame; a pulse that synchronices the instrument to the major format rate (16,95 formats/sec). GATE - Controls the readout of data from the experiment. The GATE pulse goes high when the instrument shall transmit data. These signals were used by the FPGA. MINF, MAJF and GATE change at the negative edge of SCLK. The readout from the instrument takes place on the DATA channel. The samples are read serially when the GATE signal is high. Some of the technical properties of the encoder are discussed in [17].

27

Chapter 7

Instrument design considerations

The purpose of this chapter is to outline some implementation issues that have to be taken into account when designing electronics for space applications. [39] is a good source for information about electronics for space applications. [42] discusses the properties of electronic components, while [41] gives general advice about electrical compability and placement of components. A sounding rocket will complete its mission in a few minutes, but even such a short ight, compared to a satellite mission, is quite eventful. The payload is exposed to strong accelerations and vibrations during launch, and the vehicle is heated by friction against the air in the lower atmosphere. It also has to survive the shocks from release of booms and the discharge of pyrotechnical devices.

7.1 Shielding and radiation damage

The printed circuit boards are placed inside metal boxes to protect the electronics from electric noise and energetic particles. Aluminium is light, affordable and easy to machine, and is hence often used in space applications. A spacecraft is exposed to electron, proton and ion radiation. The energies and ux densities depend on altitude and location. A sounding rocket launched from high latitudes will avoid the strong van Allen radiation belts, but may still be exposed to energetic cosmic radiation from sources outside the solar system. Such rays can cause state changes in microprocessors and large memories. Radiation hardened parts give some protection. There are diffent categories of such single event effects (SEEs). A single event upset (SEU) is the effect of an ion or proton hit that causes a memory cell to change its binary state. A memory cell can get stuck in a given logic state (SHE - single hard error), or the device could turn itself to an undened mode which requires a power reset (SEFI - single event functional interrupt). More serious are destructive effects like single event latchup (SEL), single event burnout (SEB) affecting power MOSFETs, and single event gate or dielectric rupture (SEGR/SEDR). The two latter events mainly affect power MOSFETs and occasionally other devices like FPGAs [34]. A lot of useful information about radiation and research on the effects of radiation on electronic components is available at the website of the European space components informaton exchange system (http://escies.org).

7.2 EMC - Electromagnetic compatibility

The aluminium box also prevents electromagnetic interference with other instruments. An improperly designed PCB can generate so much noise that it interferes with both itself and other 28

experiments. The noise originates from components and buses. Digital components use squareshaped, often high-frequent electric signals. High frequencies lead to short rise times, and the square-shaped pulses require overharmonic signal components. EMC design involves the use of techniques to reduce this noise to a minimum. The principles that should be followed when doing noise reduction are described in [41]. Some basic practical techniques should be mentioned: Use as low clock frequency as possible. Use circuits with the longest possible rise- and fall times. Reduce the area of any current loops. The return paths in the ground plane of the signal currents should follow the original signal paths. Ground connections should have the lowest possible impedance. Cables should be as short as possible. Cables should be as close to ground as possible. Analog and digital components should be separated. Useful pieces of practical advice can also be fount on Henry Otts website [46].

7.3 Outgassing
Outgassing is a potential but avoidable problem associated with using materials in a vacuum. The problem is twofold - the released gases can stick to unwanted places like lenses and solar cell panels, and the release of constituents leads to a change in mechanical properties of the releasing material. The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have adopted the same set of criteria for accepting a material [51]. The outgassing shall not exceed 1 % [of its] total mass loss (TML) and 0.1 % collected volatile condensible materials (CVCM), the latter refers to the material emitted from a sample at + 125 degrees C and collected on a surface at + 25 degrees C over a 24-hour period. Volatile constituents can be removed from a material prior to launch through a bake-out procedure. Outgassing data for materials often used in space applications can be found on the web page [69]. Other contaminations, like e.g. ngerprints, will also start to outgas once in vacuum.

7.4 Thermal design

A discussion of thermal design is found in [42], pages 6.21-6.34. The current trend is that the clock frequency increases while the components are miniaturized. This leads to higher component temperatures, so some form of cooling is often required. Thermal design includes the choice of packages, component layout and printed wiring board (PWB) material. For materials with thermal mismatch the time to failure will often decrease when the number of cyclic temperature variations increase. Thermal energy can be dissipated through three different processes - conduction, convection and radiation. Convection requires a liquid or a gas, and does not take place in space or at high altitudes. As a rough guideline, at an altitude of 3.000 meters the heat transfer is decreased by 20 % and at 10.000 meters it is cut by half [87]. 29

7.4.1 Conduction
Conduction is the dominating process of heat dissipation for surface mounted devices (SMD). It is dened as the transfer of heat through a static (non-moving) material. The rate of heat ow depends upon the temperature difference and the thermal conductivity of the material. The magnitude of the heat transport by conductivity is given by Fouriers law Q= T RT (7.1)

where Q = heat ow [W], T = temperature difference [K] and RT = thermal resistance [K/W]. The thermal resistance RT is given by the formula L (7.2) KA where L is the length of the thermal conductor, A its cross-sectional area, and K is thermal conductivity. K determines the amount of heat ow for a given temperature differential. The thermal resistances in components depend on the material and geometry of the lead frame, material and geometry of the package, the number of terminals and the size of the silicon chip. Most of the heat ows from the chip to the leads and into the PCB or substrate. The polymer materials commonly used in PWBs have low thermal conductivities in the order of 0.2 W/Km. However, the high thermal conductivity of the copper layers, typically 350 W/Km, increases the overall effective thermal conductivity. RT =

7.4.2 Radiation
Heat is radiated from a hot body to its cooler surroundings. The energy is transferred as electromagnetic radiation, primarily in the infrared part of the spectrum. The amount of power radiated from an object is given by the formula
4 4 Q = Ae(T0 TS )

(7.3)

where A = effective surface area of the hot object, e = surface emissivity, = Stefan-Boltzmann constant = 5.67 108 mW 4 , T0 = temperature of hot object [K], TS = temperature of cooler sur2K roundings [K].

7.5 Shocks and vibration

The rocket and payload are exposed to intense and irregular vibrations during launch. The instrument connectors must be solid and mechanically stable. Male and female connectors require a locking mechanism, so they do not shake apart. Every screw and bolt should be kept in place by applying e.g. Locktite. Sharp edges that may tear away insulation should be avoided.

7.6 Electrostatic discharge

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) results from improper component and instrument handling [4]. The device failure may manifest itself as immediate functional failure, degraded in-out (I/O) performance and decreased long-lerm reliability. Synthetic materials used in clothing can store large amounts of static electricity and ESD. During normal activity, the human body can generate voltages up to tens of kilovolts. Users should wear static protection foot garments or ground straps when handling devices and ground all surfaces that get in contact with the devices.

30

Chapter 8

Langmuir probe theory

8.1 Background
The Langmuir probe technique involves measuring the volt-ampere characteristics of a bare metal collector mounted on a boom [20]. Langmuir probes have been used extensively on rockets and satellites to measure electron and ion densities and electron temperatures relative to the plasma in the ionosphere, in interplanetary space and in the vicinity of other bodies in the solar system. The probes are usually spherical or cylindrical. The rst Langmuir probes were own in Earth orbit in 1959. Between 1978 and 1992 Langmuir probes on NASAs Pioneer Venus Orbiter measured the total solar EUV (extreme ultraviolet) ux at Venus based on the amplitude of the photoelectron emission current from one of the collectors [21]. Langmuir probes have been used on numerous ionospheric sounding rockets. One example is the Black Brant X Cusp sounding rocket launched from Ny-lesund on December 14th, 2002 to study the electrodynamics of the cusp ionosphere and the open/closed eld line boundary region [97]. Measurements by a xed-biased (ion) Langmuir probe and a swept Langmuir probe provided data on plasma density, plasma uctuations, electron temperature and the plasma potential.

8.2 The Ne measurements

The random current of electrons to a body at plasma potential is given by [82] Ieo = 1 Ne qA 4 8kTe me (8.1)

where Ne = electron density, A = probe surface area, q = electron charge, k = Boltzmann constant, me = electron mass, and Te = electron temperature. The surface area of a hemisphere with radius r can be calulated from A = 2r2 is For a probe with positive bias Vb and D (8.2)

rp (probe radius), the theoretical current collection Vb ) Ve

Ie = Ieo (1 + where

(8.3)

Ve = kTe /q 31

(8.4)

Ieo will not change signicantly for a very small D (Section 3.6.3). A Langmuir probe will collect currents of the order 10 Ieo at 70 km, 2-3 Ieo at 80-90 km and only slightly more than Ieo at apogee in the F2 region (Prof A. Pedersen, private communication).

Figure 8.1: Theoretical transfer characteristic of a SBLP The Langmuir probe is based on H.M. Mott-Smith and Irving Langmuirs classic paper The theory of collectors in gaseous discharges, which was published in 1926 [68]. There are two types of Langmuir probe usages: swept bias (SBLP) and xed bias (FBLP) Langmuir probes. Swept bias Langmuir probes are used for measuring Te , Ne , Ni and relative spacecraft potential Vs , while a xed positively biased FBLP can only measure Ne . A FBLP will however give a better time resolution of Ne than a SBLP. Figure 8.1 [84] illustrates the three important regions of the volt-ampere curve obtained by a SBLP. This probe would operate only in the electron saturation region. Here the Ne is proportional to the Ie . Full discussions of the mathematics behind Langmuir probe theory and plasma diagnostics are beyond the scope of this work. A reader interested in these subjects should consult e.g. [50] and [86].

8.3 Implementation issues

According to [20], the accuracy of the Langmuir probe measurements depends primarily on avoiding implementation errors. If these factors are dealt with successfully, the density measurements could have a relative accuracy of greater than 1 %. 32

8.3.1 Boom and sensor

The use of a boom is required to ensure that the probe is placed in the undisturbed plasma; i.e. beyond the spacecraft sheat and outside the spacecraft wake. Boom lengths between 30 and 100 cm are usually sufcient in the ionosphere.

8.3.2 Collector surfaces

Work function patchiness affects the Ne measurements as the inection points occurs to early. Work function patchiness can be reduced by the use of either vitreous carbon probes or with probes that have highly oriented metal crystal surfaces. Contaminations like ngerprints can however corrupt the probe measurements. This problem can be eliminated by coating the probe surface with carbon just prior to launch.

8.4 Chapter summary

This chapter is a brief introduction to Langmuir probe theory. The technique involves measuring the volt-ampere characteristics of a metal collector placed in a plasma. The accuracy depends heavily on avoiding implementation errors. The next chapter discusses the electronics developed for this instrument. This chapter builds on the discussions in chapters 6, 7 and 8. Chapter 10 discusses the instrument hardware.

33

Chapter 9

Electronics
9.1 System overview

Figure 9.1: Schematic instrument overview The Langmuir probe electronics consists of two printed circuit boards. The preamplier is located on the deployable instrument boom, while the main electronics board is placed inside the body of the rocket. Figure 9.1 shows the major components of the instrument. The current signal i from the charge-collecting probe is fed into the preamplier through a coaxial cable. This signal is guided directly into a current to voltage converter, where the incoming current is converted to a voltage with a scale factor determined by the feedback resistor. The +3.3 V bias voltage is removed from the signal in a differential amplier. The signal from the preamplier is then forwarded to the main electronics board through a second coaxial cable. A lowpass lter (LP) removes frequency components that otherwise would introduce aliasing. The signal also passes through a high-pass (HP) lter that removes the DC response before it is sampled by an AD-converter (ADC). The AD-converter is controlled by a FPGA, which temporarily stores the samples until they are read out by the encoder and transmit34

ted to ground. The operations of the FPGA depend on the MINF, GATE and SCLK signals from the encoder. The encoder also provides power to the instrument. The 28V voltage is transformed into +5V, -5V and experiment GND by a DC/DC converter. These three fundamental voltages are distributed to both PCBs. Other voltage levels, like the +3.3V bias voltage, are generated locally by dedicated voltage references. No active means were implemented to correct for effects from radiation damage (Section 7.1)

9.2 Requirements
The requirements that the electronics has to meet to carry out the desired measurements were discussed in Chapter 2, and will not be repeated here.

9.3 Basic PCB considerations

The expressions printed circuit board (PCB) and printed wiring board (PWB) will be used frequently in the following discussion, and require an explanation. The laminate with pads and electric connections (but without resistors, capacitors and other components) is called a printed wiring board, while a printed circuit board is a PWB with the components mounted.

9.3.1 Laminate
Both PWBs were made of a glas/epoxy laminate called FR-4. FR is an abbreviation for ame retardant. It has been used in previous UoO sounding rocket experiments. The TML (Section 7.3) varies between 0.2 and 0.4, while the maximum value of the CVCM is 0.01. A bake-out procedure was not considered as FR-4 meets the standard TML requirements.

9.3.2 Double sided board

The simplest printed wiring boards have only one layer of pads and electrical connections [42]. By using conducting leads through holes in the board one can place components on both sides. More complex boards have dedicated signal, ground and power layers that are laminated together. Such boards look like a sandwich. I decided to use double-layer PWBs. Such boards are more affordable than multi-layer boards. It is easier to implement post-production changes on the surface of a two-layer board than on a multilayer board, where the signal layers may be buried. All of the components could be placed on just one side of each board. The reverse sides were in principle used as dedicated ground planes. Ground planes improve the EMC properties of a board, as the return currents can follow the original signal lines (Section 7.2). In the end, the ground plane of the small preamplier card was quite interrupted by power and signal paths (Figure H.5), while the main electronics PWB had a more uniform, uninterrupted ground plane (Figure H.16). The component placement strategy is discussed in Section 9.11. The PWBs were constructed by using Cadstar and Macaos software.

9.3.3 Component technology

Surface mounted devices were chosen where possible. They save from 30 to 70 % surface area compared with hole mounted devices (HMD). They are lighter, and due to their compactness and close proximity to the PWB, SMCs have potentially better electrical characteristics than HMDs ([42], 4.2). Parasittic resistances, capacitances and inductances are reduced, which result in reduced time delays and noise. They have better electromagnetic compatibility, since both electromagnetic radiation and pickup are reduced. For some components, like the FPGA, there are no hole-mounted alternatives available. 35

Of practical reasons I chose to use 0805 components. They require a surface area of 40 mm2 while 0603s need just 18 mm2 , but these larger components are easier to handle with a pair of tweezers when mounting on the PWB.

9.4 Decoupling
All integrated circuits need decoupling. The purpose of decoupling is to make sure that the components functions properly [41]. A proper decoupling arrangement will improve the ciruits functionality at the expense of increasing the radiation. It usually also improves immunity. If not properly done, decoupling may on the other hand make bad things worse. A voltage supply should provide a constant DC voltage to every load in the circuit. The pulses used by digital components create transient currents in the supply voltage that go through the circuits to the ground. This leads to transient drops in the supply voltage. Such transients could in a worst-case scenario result in circuit malfunction. The decoupling capacitor will provide the extra current to keep the supply voltage stable when the component has a high power consumption [59]. There are in principle two different kinds of decoupling, high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) decoupling. One usually use one large capacitor for each board to stabilize low frequency variations in the voltage. A 2.2 F tantal capacitor (C6) was used on the preamplier card, while a 100 F electrolytic capacitor (C2) was used on the other. The LF capacitors may also improve the boards immunity against external electrostatic discharges. Such decoupling capacitors should be placed near the VCC . 100 nF capacitors were routinely used to decouple every integrated circuit. For some circuits the data sheet may suggest other suitable decoupling capacitor values. It may also suggest what kind of capacitor to use. If the component value is too low, the capacitor will be discharged too fast. If it is too large, the positive properties will be compromised by parasittic capacitances and resistances. One such HF capacitor should be connected to ground near each of both the positive and negative voltage terminals. A HF decoupling capacitor should be placed as close to the ground pin of the component as possible, as this provides the shortest possible current path to GND. In practice it is sometimes difcult to meet this requirement, especially when dealing with small boards like the preamplier. An example of HF decoupling is shown in Figure 9.2. The 100 nF 0805 capacitors C13 and C14 decoupled the rst OP213 opamp (X5) in the lter circuit.

Figure 9.2: Decoupling capacitors C13 and C14 on the PCB

9.5 Single point ground

The layout of the PWB is important to ensure that the voltages are constant. The length of common ground should be kept at a minimum. Otherwise, a component may experience sudden voltage drops generated by the other components in that piece of circuitry. An ideal example of single point grounding adopted to the main PCB is shown in Figure 9.3 [56]. This principle should also be used for VP OS and VN EG . 36

Figure 9.3: Single point grounding

9.6 Preamplier
The preamplier PCB (Figure 9.4) provides the +3.3 V bias voltage required by the charge collector, converts the current signal into a voltage, amplies the signal and removes the bias voltage before the signal is forwarded to the main electonics. The available oor area for the protective aluminium box on the boom was just 40 26.5 mm. Due to the thickness of the box walls, the area available for the PWB was even smaller. The nal version of the card measured only 34.29 21.10 mm. The preamplier electronics used only analog components. It was neither desirable nor necessary to use any digital components. I feared that transient currents from digital pulses might generate noise that disturbed both the Langmuir probe and the CDC. I did not have time to test and evaluate this. The three basic voltages were taken from the main electronics card through three ying leads.

9.6.1 Theory of operation

Figure 9.5 shows the principles behind the preamplier. An electron hitting the biased probe will generate a current, i = -qC. q is the unit charge, and C is Coulombs constant. The electron density in the ionosphere depends among other variables on the altitude z (Section 3.5). The output from the probe is proportional to the number of collected electrons, n(z). i(z) = n(z)qC (9.1)

This weak signal is fed to the preamplier through a coaxial cable and applied to a current37

Figure 9.4: Preamplier PCB

to-voltage converter consisting of an AD8552 opamp and a 22 k resistor (R). The corresponding voltage drop can be calculated by using Ohms law. In Section 2.3 it was calculated that the currents inside and outside a micro-scale irregularity are 25 and 11 A. These currents result in voltage drops of 0.55 and 0.24 V. The value of R was chosen after simulating the circuit in PSpice. The values of several resistors were measured before a selection was made. The two current to voltage converters on the board should be identical. At the output terminal of the converter the signal is V(z) = V1 = Vb i(z)R (9.2)

The bias voltage Vb is generated by a 3.3 V voltage reference (LE33A). The output from the voltage reference is applied to a voltage follower in front of the charge collecting probe and to the positive input terminals of two current to voltage converters. The output signals from the two converters are applied to the terminals of a differential amplier, which removes the bias voltage from the interesting signal. The output voltage from the differential amplier is given as Vout = A(V+ V ) = A(V2 V1 ) = A(Vb (Vb i(z)R)) = ARi(z) (9.3)

A is the amplication of the output signal by the differential amplier. It is determined by the resistor RG [7]. RG is 75 k, so according to equation (9.5) A = 1.67. The properties of the AD620 are discussed further in Section 9.6.2. 38

Figure 9.5: Sketch of preamplier PCB operations

Figure 9.6: Bootstrapping Bootstrapping Bootstrapping has been used on E-eld instruments developed for the CLUSTER satellites and the MIDAS sounding rockets [17], where a voltage follower is introduced in the signal path in 39

front of the differential amplier. A feedback loop is established between the output of the voltage follower and the coaxial cable shielding. The shielding then has the same voltage as the center lead, and the virtual capacitance of the coaxial cable is reduced. More information about bootstrapping can be found in [83]. I was reluctant to place a voltage follower in front of the current to voltage converter, as I feared that it would distort the weak signal from the charge-collecting sphere. The small gate insulation leak current (bias current) would be a source of error. Another solution had to be developed for this prototype Langmuir probe (Figure 9.6). The +3.3 V bias voltage is applied to the positive input terminals of the two current to voltage converters. One of the golden rules for opamps states that the voltage difference between the input terminals is zero [49]. The center lead of the coaxial cable is connected to the negative input terminal. A buffer with unity gain, and a 0 resistor were placed between the voltage reference and the shielding of the cable. Both the shielding and the center lead were then at the bias voltage potential.

Current to voltage converter Due to the very weak currents collected by the Langmuir probe, it was important to use an opamp with a low bias current in the current to voltage converter. The choice was done by using Analog Devices Precision Amplier Selection Guide [5]. As derived in Chapter 2, the slew rate for the opamp used in the current to voltage converter had to be at least 5.5 V/s. All of the components listed in the guide met this requirement. I also wanted to use components that were certied for the extended industrial range. The noise should be as low as possible. Several opamps had quite similar properties. The AD8552 was chosen after recommendations by Lars Lyngdal. This opamp has a max bias current of only 0.05 nA [8]. It has also been successfully used in previous UoO sounding rocket experiments. An AD8552 is two AD8551 opamps integrated on the same chip. The AD8552 was not included in the Cadstar library, and a new le had to be written (Appendix J).

Pspice simulations The preamplier electronics was developed by using PSpice. This one-channel instrument should measure currents between 1 nA and 100 A. It was difcult to develop a design where signal clipping did not take place for large input currents. The feedback resistors in the current to voltage converters (R1 and R2 ) should be as large as possible to ensure that the resulting voltage signal has a large amplitude. The positive bias voltage should also be as high as possible to attract electrons and reject positive ions. The PSpice simulations showed that these two factors were not independent. A high bias voltage, above 4 V, meant that R1 and R2 had to be rather small ( 5 k) to avoid clipping. The low amplitude of the converted signal then required a large amplication by the AD620. This also lead to clipping of the signal. The RG resistor should be chosen to utilize the AD620s entire output range. I considered introducing an extra opamp in the signal path after the AD620 to amplify the signal further. The idea was rejected due to the limited area available, and because the maximum output from the AD620 (3.8 V) was already close to the output from any opamp with a +5 V supply voltage. The PSpice preamplier circuit is illustrated in Figure 9.7. Two important voltages, the output from the current to voltage converter (top), and the output from the AD620 differential amplier (bottom), are plotted as functions of input current in Figure 9.8. The output from the current to voltage converter is almost constant up to 10 A, and increases slowly to 4V. The output from the AD620 is near zero up to 1 A. 40

Figure 9.7: Preamplier Pspice circuit

9.6.2 Testing
The preamplier was tested by applying a current signal to the input. The output voltage signal from the preamplier was displayed on an oscilloscope. The rst voltage to current converter tried was a Howland circuit [43]. This circuit did not work properly. A careful matching of the resistors is necessary to make the load current independent of the load impedance. Another voltage to current generator is described in the data sheet of AD620, and is shown in Figure 9.9. An OP213 opamp was used instead of an AD705. The output from the signal generator was applied to the positive input terminal (Vin+ ), while the negative input terminal was connected to ground (Vin = 0). According to the AD620 data sheet [7], the magnitude of the output current can be calculated from the equation 41

Figure 9.8: Preamplier current-voltage response

Figure 9.9: AD620 voltage to current converter

iL =

Vin+ G (Vin+ Vin )G = R1 R1 42

(9.4)

IInput A 0.1 0.2 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 25 30 40 50 60 80 100

VOutput [V] 0.005 0.01 0.055 0.08 0.11 0.19 0.27 0.31 0.33 0.39 0.50 0.55 0.64 0.67 0.9 1.05 1.4 1.55 1.8 2.8 3.3

Table 9.1: Preamplier test

where the gain G is determined by value of the gain resistor RG according to the equation G= which can be rewritten as RG = 49.4k G1 (9.6) 49.4k +1 RG (9.5)

The tests showed a discrepancy between the theoretical value calculated from Equation 9.4 and what was measured on the bench. I found it necessary to have a clear understanding of the properties of this converter. The results from these tests, which have limited relevance for the Langmuir probe itself, are shown in Appendix K. This current generator can however be useful when testing a two- or three-channel version of this probe (Section 13.4.1). It was in the end challenging to test the preamplier by using this circuit. The voltage drop across R1 had to be equal to VBIAS to avoid signal distortion. This required a very large R1 , 11.6 M. Such a high resistance generates currents in the order of 107 A. The measurements required that sources of noise, like long wires and component terminals, had to be removed. The upper part of the input range was tested by using another current generator. The results from the preamplier tests are shown in Table 9.1 and plotted in Figures 9.10 and 11. The preamplier should be able to handle an input range that spans over ve decades. In this one channel instrument, the output voltages from currents below 1 A had such a low amplitude that they were difcult to separate from the circuit noise. Only the two upper decades are shown in Figure 9.10. The input currents were on the whole expected to be below 25 A, so most of the tests were done for currents between 1 and 25 A (Figure 9.11). The curve should have been linear in the two plots. In Figure 9.10 the output is lower than expected for currents between 50 and 60 A. It is higher than expected between 4 and 8 A in Figure 9.11. 43

Figure 9.10: Result of preamplier test, input range 0-100 A

Figure 9.11: Result of preamplier test, input range 0-25 A

Two test points were placed on the preamplier board. TP1 faciliated measurements of the converted current, while TP2 was placed between the output terminal of the AD620 and CN2. Such points are very useful when testing a PCB. One should not place the test-pin on solder lands, components or component leads [42]. 44

9.7 Coax cabling/ying leads

Figure 9.12: Coax cable and ying leads The two boards were electrically connected through three ying leads and a coaxial cable (Figure 9.12). The four cables were attached to the deployable arm with plastic cable ties. The signal from the preamplier is sent to the main board through the coaxial cable. A comparison between coaxial cables and twisted pair can be found in e.g. [72], pages 61-62. Both kinds of cables are useful for frequencies below 100 kHz. Coaxial cables have a more uniform characteristic impedance with lower losses. A coaxial cable grounded at one point provides a good degree of protection from capacitive pickup. I found it more practical to use a coaxial cable than twisted pairs. The snap-on connector is small and secure, and using a coaxial cable was a simpler and more elegant solution than soldering twisted pairs to the board. There was no space available for a DSUB connector on the preamplier PCB.

9.8 Main PCB

9.8.1 Overview
The main printed circuit board is shown in Figure 9.13. A 15-pin male DSUB connector was the instruments encoder interface. The encoder supplied a +28V voltage, rocket GND, the GATE, MINF, MAJF and SCLK signals, and would read the digitized samples from the instrument on the DATA channel. A DC/DC converter transformed the +28V voltage to +5V and -5V and 45

instrument GND. A 9-pin female DSUB connector was used as interface with the three voltagecarrying ying leads discussed in Section 9.7. The signal-carrying coaxial cable was connected to snap-on connectors on both PCBs. The signal from the preamplier is applied to the positive input terminal of an AD620 differential amplier. It then passes through a lter circuit before being sampled by a 16-bit ADconverter, which is controlled by an ACEX1k FPGA. The Langmuir probe was assigned words 12, 13, 60 and 61 in the telemetry format. The signal was to be sampled at the beginning of words 2 and 50. The 16-bit sample was temporarily stored in the FPGA awaiting readout to the encoder and transmission to ground.

Figure 9.13: Preamplier and main electronics PCBs

9.8.2 Differential amplier

According to [72], p 89-93, shields on cables used for low-frequent signals should be grounded at only one point when the signal circuit has single-point ground. Noise currents will ow if the shield has multi-point grounding. Six preferred grounding schemes for shielded, twisted pairs and coaxial cables at low frequencies are illustrated in [72], Figure 3-21. Alternative D was chosen. The solution is implemented by applying the signal from the preamplier PCB to the positive terminal of an AD620 differential amplier, while the screen is terminated at the negative input. This is shown in Figure 9.14.

9.8.3 Filter circuit

The signal from the Langmuir probe has to be ltered to avoid aliasing. An anti-aliasing bandpass lter was created by an eight-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth lowpass lter with a cutoff frequency of 2 kHz, and a high-pass resistor-capacitor (RC) lter with a cutoff frequency of 0.3 Hz. This bandpass lter also removed the DC response. 46

Figure 9.14: AD620 coax cable termination According to the Nyquist theorem, one has to record a signal with a sampling frequency that is at least twice the highest frequency of the interesting signal to avoid aliasing. If the signal is not properly band limited, alias signals appear as components that cannot be distinguished from valid signals. The alias signals have high frequencies, but are converted during sampling to false frequencies that are less than half the sampling rate. The lowpass lter circuit was based on the telemetry format effective in early July 2003, where the Langmuir probe had a 4:1 supercommutation (Section 6.2). In this telemetry format the Langmuir probe was assigned the last nibble of word 9, word 10 and the rst nibble of word 11. This system was repeated for words 30, 31 and 32, 51, 52 and 53, and 72, 73 and 74. I was working under the impression that the ICI-1 telemetry rate would be higher than that used by the MIDAS sounding rockets. The low-pass lter was hence based on an assumed telemetry rate twice that of MIDAS. This format used 1085 formats per second. A telemetry format with 2170 frames per second gives a sampling frequency of 4 2170 Hz = 8680 Hz. The Nyquist frequency in this telemetry format is hence 4340 Hz. In the end, this assumption was wrong. ICI-1 used the same telemetry rate as MIDAS. We did not expect to see any frequencies above 600 Hz (Prof A. Pedersen, private communication). I still chose a lter with higher cut-off frequency to keep the possibility open for observing unexpected frequencies. A 2 kHz cutoff frequency also ensured that the passband was at in the frequency domain up to 600 Hz. In hindsight, a lower cutoff frequency should have been chosen. The telemetry format was changed after the Langmuir probe was nished. In the new format the instrument has a 2:1 supercommutation. The two telemetry formats can be found in Appendix M. Filter theory The passband is the frequency region that can pass through the lter circuit without being damped or amplied [49]. It is often dened to extend down to the -3 dB point. The corresponding frequency is usually referred to as the cutoff frequency (fc ). A transition region with strong damping exists at frequencies abobe the fc . Above the transition region one nds the stop band, where in principle no signal components pass through the lter. A reader interested in a more detailed discussion of lters should consult e.g. [31], [49] or [43]. Figure 9.15 shows the frequency response for the Langmuir probe lter. The cutoff frequency is located around 1800 Hz. Above 3 kHz the signal is so damped that it is not possible to separate 47

it from the circuit noise. The stopband region is hence not shown.

Figure 9.15: Output from the LP low-pass lter

Filter order The signal to noise ratio (SNR) for an ideal AD-converter with N bit resolution is given by the expression [101] SN R = 6.02N + 1.76[dB] (9.7)

For a 16-bit AD-converter the SNR must be at least 98.08 dB. Such a large attenuation between 2000 and 8680 Hz requires a high-order lter circuit. Four different Sallen-Key Butterworth lowpass lters with orders 4, 6, 8 and 10 were developed by using the FilterPro software, which is available from Texas Instruments webpages (www.ti.com). The resistor and capacitor values for a lter circuit can be calculated by hand (e.g. [98]), but this process is very labour-intensive and timeconsuming. The FilterPro simulations showed that the lter had to be of at least order eight to meet this SNR requirement. The four suggested lter circuits are all reproduced in Appendix N. The chosen 8-pole circuit is shown in Figure 9.16 for the readers convenience. The tests showed an inherent circuit noise voltage of 3-5 mV. This was measured by applying signals with decreasing amplitudes to the circuit, and nding the point where the signal drowned in noise.

9.8.4 Sallen-Key Butterworth lter

It was very important to avoid ripple in this lter circuit. Ripples are variations in the lter response in the passband [49], and would lead to amplications and attenuations of the signal. The Butterworth lter has a at passband response, at the cost of a transition region from passband to stopband that is less step than that of e.g. a Chebyshev lter. The steepness is determined by the number of lter poles. The response of a second-order lter falls with 40 dB for each decade. I decided to use dual OP213 opamps in the lter circuit. These opamps are well-proven, reliable and were already available in our laboratory. 48

Figure 9.16: FilterPro simulation of 8-pole Butterworth Sallen-Key LP lter

Figure 9.17: 2-pole component of Sallen-Key Butterworth lter circuit The circuits were tested by applying a sine voltage to the input. The output voltage was displayed on an oscilloscope. In some of the measurements with a high input frequency the output signal was hardly detectable in the noise. The results from these tests can be found in Table 9.2. 49

frequency [Hz] 0k5 1k 1k5 2k 2k5 3k 4k 5k

4p 5 5 4.8 3.6 2 1 0.3 0.1

6p 5 5 5 3.6 1.2 0.5 0.1 20m

8p 5 5 5 3.6 0.8 0.2 20m 5m

10p 5 5 5 3.5 0.5 0.1 5m -

Table 9.2: LP lter response

Focus was then put on developing an eight-pole lter with high resistor, instead of high capacitor, values. It is simulated in Figure 9.16. It is easier to nd low tolerance resistors with high component values than capacitors. High resistor values lead however to high termic noise. SMD resistors in the 10 to 1 M range have typical tolerances of 2 %. Capacitors with low values use dielectrics with relative permittivity r < 100. Class 1 capacitors, using dielectrica like NP0, N220, N750 and COG have low dielectric losses and low temperature coefcients. Higher-value class 2 capacitors are based on ceramics with r up to 15.000. The properties of dielectrics like X7R and Z5U also vary strongly with temperature, voltage and time [42]. The version of the FilterPro softvare that was available in early 2003 suggested exact values of the resistors, not standard component values in the E12 or E24 system. The solution was to use the closest larger standard-value resistor, and place it in parallel with a high-value resistor (Figure 9.17). This second large-value resistor was used to ne-tune the value of the resulting parallel resistor. The resulting value R of two parallel resistors R1 and R2 is calculated from the equation 1 1 1 = + R R1 R2 (9.8)

Testing lter circuits is a time consuming process of trial and error. The component values suggested by the FilterPro software did not always give the expected result, and values in the vicinity had to be chosen instead. This may be related to software imperfections and tolerance of the components, especially the capacitors. I introduced dedicated test points on the PCB after each of the four lter sections. Care was taken to ensure that they were reasonably big and easily accessible. The test points facilitated monitoring the signal from the instrument as it passed through the circuit, and is recommended for use in future instruments. The frequency response of the lter used in the Langmuir probe is shown in Appendix L and plotted in Figure 9.15. The lter was tested by applying a 3.8 V peak to peak sine signal on the input. The maximum output from an AD620 with a +5V supply voltage is 3.8 V. The response peak to peak voltage at test point TP7 was recorded with an oscilloscope. The frequency of the input signal was incremented in steps of 25 Hz. It turned out that the passband was not at, but no ripple was observed. This plot shows that the cut-off frequency is located around 1700 Hz, and not 2000 as planned. The discrepancy between the lter circuits created with HMDs and SMDs may be due to differences in absolute values for the components used in the circuits. The lter is simulated in Figure 9.18. Highpass CR lter The Langmuir probe data would be used to determine the rockets spin and attitude (Section 2.4). The spin rate depends on the settings of the rockets ns. The planned spin frequency was 4.8 Hz, but experience has shown an uncertainty of up to 1 Hz (Lars Lyngdal, private communication). 50

Figure 9.18: PSpice simulation of the lter circuit I wanted a cutoff-frequency at least one decade below the lowest probable spin frequency. This highpass lter would remove the DC response and other low-frequent signals.

Figure 9.19: High-pass CR lter A passive capacitor-resistor lter was used to implement the lower cutoff frequency at 0.3 Hz (Figure 9.19). A PSpice simulation of the CR-lter is shown in Figure 9.20. The -3 dB point is at the frequency given by [49] 1 (9.9) 2RC The low cutoff frequency meant that the lter would consist of rather large-valued resistors and capacitors. The lter was placed in front of the AD-converter, and as such also acted as a bias network. The AD-converter had an input range of 0-5V. This arrangement enabled the signal to swing around the 2.5 V level. The capacitor had a value of 2.2 F, while two 510k resistors were used. No such big capacitor with class 1 electrolyte was found, instead a class 2 component with X7R was used. f=

9.8.5 AD-converter
One of the initial requirements for the Langmuir probe was that the data should be sampled with 16 bit resolution. ELFA provided six different AD-converters of this kind; PCM78P [104], 51

Figure 9.20: PSpice simulation of the CR lter ADS8320 [100], ADS8321 [101], ADS8341 [102] and ADS8344 [103] (all manufactured by BurrBrown) and Max195 [62] (Maxim). The selected AD-converter should be surface-mounted and use single or double supply voltages up to 5 volts. Only one input channel is necessary. PCM78 is a hole-mounted component. ADS8341 and ADS8344 have both 4- and 8-channel inputs. They were not concidered further. The data sheet showed that the Max195 was larger and more complicated than the ADS8320 and the ADS8321. The choice between the two remaining AD converters was made by studying the respective data sheets. The two AD-converters have quite similar properties. The ADS8321 was chosen over the ADS8320 due to the larger input range (-Vref Vref versus 0 Vref ), smaller offset error (0.4 2 mV versus 1mV 2mV), and lower temperature drift (1V/K 3V/K). The two components have the same full data rate, but the ADS8321 have a potentially higher rest current (1100 1700A versus 900 1700A) and greater effect loss through power dissipation (5.5 8.5 mW versus 4.5 8.5 mW). The ADS8320 and ADS8321 are physically small, and it was not possible to test them on the breadboard in the laboratory. I had to trust the information given in the data sheets without really testing the equipment myself before it was mounted on the PWB. This is a highly undesirable situation. In October-November I came up with an idea to solve this problem (Figure 9.21). ELFA sells Sunhayato ICB-010 test pads for SO-8 (small outline) components (E-48-393-53). The distance between the pads is 1.28 mm. It is still possible to handsolder the component terminals to the pads after they are bent. Care must be taken when doing this. It is very easy to bend the terminals too much so they are destroyed. It should also be easy and affordable to make simple test PWBs for small outline (SO) components using the Cadstar software. If I had come up with this idea earlier, I would have been able to test the AD-converters and the other small components on the bench before making the nal decision over which to choose. One can only speculate whether I had then discovered and understood the AD-converter problems described later at an earlier stage in the process.

9.8.6 Implementation issues

The AD converters data sheet brings ones attention to a number of implementation issues. There are two general methods of driving the analog input of the ADS8321; single-ended or differential. When the input is single-ended, the -In input is held at a xed voltage, while the +In input swings around the same voltage with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 2 Vref . When the input is differential, the amplitude of the input is the difference between the +In and -In 52

Figure 9.21: AD-onverter on Sunhayato test pad

terminals. A signal is common to both of these inputs. The single-ended option was chosen. The input would then swing around the 2.5 V level provided by the CR lter bias network, and the entire input range could then be used. A basic data acquisition system is described in Figure 11 in the ADS8321 data sheet, and is reproduced in Figure 9.22. Time was saved by adopting this design.

Figure 9.22: ADS8321 basic data acquisition system 53

The power dissipation of the ADS8321 scales directly with the conversion rate. The rst step towards achieving lowest power dissipation is to nd the lowest conversion rate that will satisfy the requirements of the system. The ADS8321 is in power-down state under two conditions: When the conversion is complete, and whenever CS\SHDN is high. Ideally, each conversion should occur as quickly as possible, preferably at a 2.4 MHz clock rate so the converter can spend the longest possible time in the power-down mode. This solution was not implemented, as it would require an oscillator. A suitable unit, HC49/4H, has a drive level of 0.5 mW [27]. The ADS8321 has a power consumption of 1 mV at 10 kHz conversion. A reduction in power consumption in the AD-converter could easily have been used by the oscillator instead. The introduction of an oscillator and a clock-divider would also increase the complexity of the circuit, and was hence not implemented.

9.8.7 Serial interface

The AD-converters FPGA interface deserves extra attention, as the VHDL code (Section 9.14) had to meet the timing requirements. The basic timing diagram from the data sheet is reproduced in Figure 9.23. The ADS8321 communicates with the FPGA via a synchronous 3-wire serial interface. The DCLOCK signal synchronizes the data transfer with each bit being transmitted on the falling edge of DCLOCK.

Figure 9.23: ADS8321 basic timing diagram Minimum 22 clock cycles are required for a 16-bit conversion. A falling CS\SHDN-signal initiates the conversion and data transfer. The rst 4.5 to 5.0 clock periods of the conversion cycle are used to sample the input signal. After the fth falling DCLOCK edge, DOUT is enabled and will output a logic low value for one DCLOCK period. For the next 16 DCLOCK periods, DOUT will output the conversion result with the most signicant bit (MSB) rst. After the least signicant bit (LSB) (B0) has been transferred, subsequent clocks will repeat the output data but in a least signicant bit rst format. After the MSB has been repeated, DOUT will tri-state again. Subsequent clocks will have no effect on the converter. A new conversion is initiated only when CS\SHDN has been taken HIGH and returned LOW.

9.8.8 ACEX 1k50

The purpose of the FPGA was to command the AD converter to sample the ltered signal at the correct times, temporarily store the data and transfer the sampled digital data to the encoder when GATE went high. 54

Parameter Sampling rate [kHz] Supply range [V] Package

ADS8320 100 2.7-5 MSOP-8

ADS8321 100 4.75-5.25 MSOP-8

Max195 85 0-7 SO16W

Table 9.3: Technical specications of AD converters

Due to the problems with the AD converter and the decision to hardwire the Langmuir probe output directly to the encoder, the FPGA was not used during the ight. An ACEX 1k50 was chosen for this design. It is a 144-pin tin quad at package (TQFP) with 102 in/out (I/O) pins [3]. The I/O pins can drive or be driven by 2.5V, 3.3V or 5.0V voltages. The ACEX 1k50 is qualied for the extended temperature range. It has an in-circuit recongurability (ICR) via external devices, intelligent controller or a JTAG (joint test action group). In this design, the FPGA is congured at power-up with data stored in an EPC2 serial conguration device. The ACEX can be recongured in-circuit by resetting the device and loading new data. It is obvious that the experiment could have been controlled by a simpler FPGA. Tests of the VHDL software showed that only 3 percent of the logic resources were used. I decided to use the ACEX 1k50 because a lot of these components were available in the laboratoty, and its footprint was already included in the component library of the Cadstar software. Bying a new and smaller component would have introduced unnecessary costs. The ACEX 1k50 has already been used in previous UoO sounding rocket experiments. The FPGA required a +2.5V voltage, which was generated locally by a LF25ABD voltage regulator.

9.8.9 EPC2
The EPC2 conguration device stored the programming of the FPGA, and loaded it into the unit when the instrument was powered up [2]. The ByteBlaster programming cable has a 10-pin female plug. A simple, matching 5 2 pin rod array connector served as ByteBlaster interface (CN7). During erasure, programming, and verication, all I/O pins are tristated to eliminate interference from other devices on the PCB. Four signals are used in addition to GND and VCC: TCK (clock), TDO (data from device), TDI (data to device) and TMS (JTAG (Joint Test Action Group) state machine control). The EPC2 is programmed by applying signals on the TMS and TDO inputs and shifting data into and out of the devices on the TDI and TDO pins. After programming, the controller state machine must go into the RESET state, which is maintained by external pull-up resistors on the TDI, TMS and TCK pins (R21, R22 and R23).

9.8.10 DC/DC-converter
The encoder provides power for the instruments. The Langmuir probe experiment required three fundamental voltage levels; instrument ground, +5V and -5V. I decided to use a 20IMX4-0505-9 4W DC/DC converter from Traco Electronic AG [105]. There are two kinds of DC/DC converters available. A switching regulator is preferrable to a linear regulator, as it generates less heat that has to be dissipated (Section 7.4). The control element is either off or saturated, so such converters are efcient even though there is a large drop from input to output [49], p 356). I tried to have an uninterrupted ground plane in the vicinity of the DC/DC converter, so heat could dissipate through the metal in this plane. No physically large components were placed in the immediate vicinity of the DC/DC-converter (Figure 9.13), so heat could radiate freely. This unit has already been own on previous rockets, and the footprint was available in the Cadstar library. 55

9.9 Grounding
The DC/DC converter provides galvanic isolation between rocket ground and instrument ground. The two ground levels must however be connected to avoid that the instrument starts oating relative to rocket ground. The ground levels were connected by using a ying lead between a dedicated test point (TP1) and the protective box. The lead was handsoldered to the PCB, and fastened to the box with a bolt. The lead was kept in place on the PCB surface by kapton tape and silicon glue. Only one lead should be used to connect the ground planes. Otherwise, noise will be generated in the resulting current loop.

9.10 Encoder interface

Figure 9.24: MAJF, MINF, SCLK and GATE interface The encoder interface (Figures 9.24 and 9.25) is based on similar circuits described in [17]. I tried to route the signal lines between the FPGA and the encoder interface so they were as short, parallel and straight as possible.

9.11 Component placement

This section discusses the strategies followed when designing the largest printed wiring board. Some basic EMC conciderations are discussed in Section 7.2. The main electronics board was rather big, so there was enough area available for any reasonable component arrangement. The only physical restrictions were the location of the 15-pin DSUB encoder interface, the 9-pin DSUB connector that supplied voltages to the preamplier and the signal coaxial cable connector. The placement of these three connectors was dictated by the location of the holes in the protective aluminium box. I had three priorities when doing the layout of this board. 56

Figure 9.25: DATA interface Analog and digital components should be separated. The transitions of the system clock create transient currents that could inuence on the operations of the analog components. The lter circuitry was entirely analog. The AD-converter was the rst component with digital properties encountered by the signal. The ground plane on the reverse side of the board should be as uninterrupted as possible. This was quite challenging, especially when providing voltages for the components in the encoder interface. The resistor nets, optocouplers and FPGA were placed near the 15-pin DSUB connector. An uninterrupted ground plane meant that the three voltages had to be placed on the top layer to the greatest extent possible. Compromises had to be made some places. I found it for instance more important to provide short and straight paths for the signal-carrying MINF, MAJF, SCLK, GATE and DATA lines than keeping the voltage paths on just one side of the board. The region of the ground plane that included the GND pin of the DC/DC converter and the area under the FPGA and AD-converter were not interrupted by any signal or voltage paths. The components in a functional unit should be placed near each other. The capacitors and resistors in the lter circuit were grouped around the opamps, and due to the many components required in this piece of circuitry, this strategy makes it look messy. The dedicated test points were very useful when monitoring the signal as it passed through the lter circuit. Some general, practical rules on how to place the components on the PWB can be found in [41]. One can start with placing the processor and the components that the processor will interact with. 57

 The fastest circuits should be mounted as close to the power supply as possible. The current loops in the voltage supply and ground return should be as small as possible. Interface-circuits should be placed as close to their contacts as possible.

9.12 Ground planes

One should ideally have an uninterrupted ground plane. According to [41], solid ground planes have several advantages like Good HF-ground reference, Reduction of common mode radiation, and Reduction of the parasitic capacitance between the conductors. A good ground plane provides a reliable 0V potential for all components on the board. The return currents will spread out in the ground plane. Figures H.5 and H.16 show the bottom electric layers of the two boards. Due to its small size and many components, the preamplier ground plane was quite interrupted. The main electronics board is closer to the ideal requirement. GND and VP OS for the FPGA were at two locations deliberately placed on top of the board to ensure a that the return currents from the ADconverter and FPGA could ow almost straight to the GND terminal of the DC/DC converter.

9.13 Hole mounted components

Some HMDs were used on the main electronics board. It was unusually difcult to handsolder the hole mounted components to the board. The tin was reluctant to ow along the terminals and make good contact between the component and the board. This demands the use of more ux than usual when soldering. Another solution is to use high power on the soldering iron and a sufciently thick tip so the heat is properly transferred. There was no time available to investigate this further, but one possible explanation to this phenomenon is the production method of the board. Elprint has reduced the use of lead in an attempt to make its production more friendly to the environment. The traditional solder metal is an eutectic mixture of tin (63 %) and lead (37 %) ([42] p 3.5).

9.14 VHDL-code
I was not able to nish the VHDL code in time for the tests at ARR. The code that was used during this test was written by Lars Lyngdal, and is included in Appendix O. I developed another set of VHDL code after the launch that is partially based on the MIDAS code [17]. In this code, the MAJF signal is not used. The Langmuir probe was assigned words 12, 13, 60 and 61 in the telemetry format. The ADconverter would sample the voltage on its input terminal at the beginning of words 6 and 54 (Figure 9.26). The samples would be clocked serially into the FPGA, and stored there until the GATE signal was logic high. The samples would then be clocked out serially on the data channel. The signals from the encoder are inverted in the optocoupler, and have to be inverted back to their original state. The system clock is used to increment the value of the bitcounter and the wordcounter. The two counters are reset when MINF goes high, i.e. at the beginning of each format. The word counter is used to initialize sampling at the beginning of words 6 and 54. CS\SHDN then goes low, and remains in this state for 22 clock pulses. The FPGA starts to clock the sample out 5 clock 58

Figure 9.26: VHDL ow scheme transitions after sampling was initiated. The sample is stored in a 16-bit shift register. The signal shift-enable assumes the logic value 1 1/2 clock pulse before GATE goes high. This prepares the shift register, so the MSB is ready to be clocked out. Otherwise the MSB would have been lost. The register is cleared at the beginning of words 30 and 78, so it is ready to receive the new sample.

9.15 Testing and decisionmaking

The main electronics card was tested at Andya Rocket Range in early October (Figure 9.27). This was the rst test with an encoder. The electric tests went well, but a problem with the AD converter was discovered. A sine voltage was applied directly to the signal input of the main electronics card. This signal was sampled by the instrument, read out from the FPGA by the ight encoder and converted back to analog form and displayed. The test revealed that the signal was distorted. The initial applied voltage input range was 0 to 5V, but the output signal from the instrument was only in the 0 -2.5 V range. The upper half of the input signal was clipped away. No distortion occurred in the lower part of the applied signal. When the amplitude of the input voltage was reduced, a larger part of the signal was shown, but a part of the positive half was always cut away. This happened no matter how small an input voltage was applied. When the amplitude of a small amplitude input signal was increased, the growth was always directed towards ground. No such distortion or clipping had seen in any of the previous tests. The dedicated test points in the lter circuit were very useful when the tests were done. One could follow the signal through the lter circuit, and verify that it was not distorted by any of the ve lter components. This quickly isolated the problem to the AD converter or the FPGA. It was obvious that unless this problem was corrected, the measurements from the Langmuir 59

Figure 9.27: Electric test of Langmuir probe at ARR probe would have no value. The design of the ADC-FPGA interface and surrounding electronics was a copy of Figure 11 in ADS8321s data sheet (Figure 9.22). The rst step taken was to verify that the design corresponded to the one shown in the data sheet. When this fact was established, I checked the voltage on the In pin. It should be equal to the +2.5V reference voltage. This was veried as well. This problem was not described in the components data sheet, and I decided to contact Texas Instruments directly for assistance. The correspondence suggested steps that were already taken. The VHDL code appeared to be functioning. It was suggested that the In input pin should be connected to ground and not the 2.5V reference voltage. This modication was made on one of the printed circuit boards, but it did not solve the problem. The launch date came closer, and there was no obvious solution to the AD converter problem. The problem occurred on both of the main electronics cards. The terminals of the surfacemounted components are small, and it is no trivial task to replace such a component. There was no spare printed wiring board. I considered reproducing the main electronics card with new parts from preferrably another batch, but rejected it. It was not enough time available to order the components, assemble and test a third board. Due to the fact that the same problem occurred on two different boards, I also doubted that the third board would have other characteristics. This problem might have been discovered if I had known a technique for testing such small components earlier in the project. The surface-mounted components are very small, and the breadboard used for for hole-mounted components could not be used. I came up with the idea of using test pads too late in the project (Section 9.8.5). If I had been more imaginative at an earlier stage, this problem might have been discovered and understood. One had to look for a new approach to circumvent the problem. The solution was to connect 60

the analog output signal from the Langmuir probe preamplier directly to the encoder. The encoder was sampling with a 12 bit resolution, but this was considered as good enough. After all the work and effort invested in the main electronics board, this was a solution that I wanted to avoid. The time aspect was however critical. Andya Rocket Range informed me that such a change would require reprogramming of the encoder. In order to give ARR the time necessary to do these changes while the encoder was still at Andya, I decided to abandon the main PCB in early November. This change was recommended by both Lars Lyngdal and Arne Pedersen, but the decision and responsibility for the reduction in data resolution is mine alone. I see four possible explanations for the ADC failure. Bad circuit design. The ADC circuitry was however based on a suggestion in the components data sheet. The two AD-converters belong to a batch of components with production faults. I nd this explanation not likely. ESD damage (Section 7.6). I can not guarantee that all the proper component handling requirements have been observed continuously from the reception of the components to the test at ARR. The main PCB was tested from August to October without any digital signals being applied. It is possible that the lack of clock signals and signals from the FPGA during electric and lter tests has resulted in component malfunction. A second generation Langmuir probe should then have an on-board oscillator to prevent this. This probe did not have an oscillator, as it vas envisioned to use clock signals from the encoder (Section 9.8.6). This may be a serious design aw. Other explanations may also exist. During the vibration tests at Kjeller (Chapters 7.5 and 11) one found that the 15-pin DSUB was placed too far to the left in the opening in the the aluminium box. The instrument did not t into the rocket skin. This problem might have been avoided if I had had access to drawings of the payload when the electronics was designed. As only 28V and ground were required, the entire 15-pin DSUB connector was removed and the two voltages were applied as ying leads. Just soldering the two leads onto the card would not be a good enough technical solution. The mechanical shocks and vibrations could pull away the two leads from the card. The two wires were glued onto the card with a 2 cm wide layer of two-component Araldit strong glue. To reduce mechanical stresses further, the 15 pin DSUB that connected the ying leads with the encoder was tied to the closest of the aluminium rods that keep all the instrument boxes together. If the problems with the AD-converter had not occurred, a similar solution would have been chosen to provide the instrument with digital signals from the encoder. Flying leads would have connected the PCB and an external 15-pin connector.

61

Chapter 10

Hardware

Figure 10.1: Preamplier box and probe The charge collecting probe consists of two hollow aluminium hemispheres separated by a circular piece of peak. Figure 10.1 shows the probe and preamplier box mounted on the deployable instrument boom. The interiors and exteriors of the three components that constitute the charge-collecting sphere are shown in Figures 10.2 and 10.3. AutoCAD drawings of the hardware can be found in Appendix I. The peak serves as an electrical insulation between the two hemispheres. The spherical sensor is mounted on a hollow aluminium pipe, which both separates it from the deployable instrument arm and the electronics box, and provides a protective channel for the return signal coaxial cable. The pipe is isolated from the grounded aluminium 62

box with a second piece of peak. The aluminium tube is attached to the box with two hexagon bolts. Peak washers ensure that the screws and box are electrically insulated from the aluminium tube.

Figure 10.2: Interiors of probe hemispheres Figure 10.4 shows the hardware that was mounted on the deployable instrument boom. In addition to the sensor and protective aluminium box, two brackets were required to secure the box to the boom. A second, smaller bracket was used to mount the 9-pin DSUB connector for the three ying leads to the exterior of the box. The current signal is lead to the preamplier electronics through a 178 coaxial cable. The cable cords were checked in a microscope both before and after connector crimping to verify that they were not damaged in the process. The coaxial connector was later handsolered to the preamplier board. The lower hemisphere was connected to the aluminium pipe with a connector manufactured by Suhner (31 SMC-50-0-1/111 NE, 22640300, batch 02.38803). One end of the coaxial cable was attached to the lower end of this connector. A spiral of wire-wrap thread was placed around the center lead of this connector (Figure 10.5). The thread was then hand-soldered to the connector to make a good and stable mechanical connection. The soldering was checked in a microscope. The disc-shaped insulating piece of peak had a hole through its center (Figures 10.2 and 10.3). Tubes extended from the disc. In addition to giving extra mechanical support to the two hemispheres, this channel provided a protected path for the wire-wrap thread. Threads matching the ones in the Suhner connector were manufactured in the peak. RTV glue (Elastosit A-33 Elfenbein) was applied on the end of the peak tube, which was then screwed into place on the connector in the lower probe hemisphere. The glue was carefulled applied by using Q-tips. 63

Figure 10.3: Exterior of probe hemispheres The upper hemisphere had a hole drilled through its north pole. This hemisphere was then mounted on the piece of peak, and glued to the disc. The wire-wrap thread was guided through the hole. A channel was drilled through the length axis of a brass screw. The thread was then carefully guided through this hole. The screw secured the upper hemisphere to the piece of peak. The wire-wrap thread was then handsoldered to the screw. This delicate operation sealed the channel through the screw. During launch the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases rapidly. Such a channel will provide a vent for the probe. This possibility was not used in this instrument, as it was understood after the soldering was done. The preamplier box was attached to the side of the deployable boom with two aluminium brackets. It was originally planned to place it on top of the boom. During fall this was changed, as it was easier to t the probe and box in the Hotel cylinder this way. The 9-pin DSUB connector was attached to the preamplier with a small aluminium bracket. The main PCB was placed in another electronics box. This unit was mounted inside the body of the rocket. Figure 10.6 is a drawing of the main electronics box. The two University of Oslo instrument boxes were mounted on top of each other (Figure 10.7). Their total mass was 0.64 kg. The mass of the aluminium components mounted on the deployable boom was 0.12 kg. All hardware was built by the Mechanical Workshop at the Department of Physics.

64

Figure 10.4: Preamplier box and Langmuir probe

Figure 10.5: Wire wrap connector

65

Figure 10.6: Langmuir probe main PCB box

Figure 10.7: Langmuir and E-eld probe boxes

66

Chapter 11

Vibration testing
11.1 Introduction
Lift-off, separation of burnt-out rocket stages, ring of explosive bolts and release of booms will expose the rocket to mechanical shocks and vibrations. The payload must survive these stresses. Cables or badly soldered components may shake loose. Vibration testing is necessary to nd such weaknesses in the mechanical design. A typical test is to expose the rocket to a certain spectrum of vibrations for two minutes. The vibrations are forced on each of the x-, y- or z-axes separately. One may decide to do vibration tests on the payload alone, or on the entire rocket. The vibrations may be white noise, or sines in the frequency range 1 Hz to 2 kHz. Accelerometers are mounted on the desired locations, and one can see how they react to the stresses. The data from the accelerometers are analyzed by a spectrum analyzer. This way one nds the resonance frequencies of the rocket/payload, and see if some sensors get unacceptably high readings. Three ICI-1 vibration tests were performed at NDREs facilities at Kjeller. In rst and second tests a sine was applied to the z axis of the rocket. In the rst test one used accelerometers that could measure accelerations up to 10 g (Figure 11.1), while the measurement range was later increased further (Figure 11.2). In the last test, random forces were applied (Figure 11.3). The response of the Langmuir probe is plotted with purple in these graphs.

11.2 Sines, test 1

With the exception of the particle counter (brown), the Langmuir probe experiences lower acceleratons than the other instruments for frequencies up to 120 Hz. The accelerations however increase signicantly between 90 to 120 Hz. Between 120 and 350 Hz the accelerometer has recorded large changes in the applied forces; within a frequency interval of 70 Hz the readings assume values between 0.03 and 3 g. Most of the instruments experience a maximum around 400 Hz. The Langmuir probe has higher accelerations than the other instruments between 520 and 630 Hz, with a local maximum of 2.5g near 600 Hz. The response then starts to fall, and there is a local minimum near 750 Hz. A local maximum occurs at 775 Hz. These maxima and minima occur near similar extrema for both the E-eld (blue) and 3-axis magnetometer (red), which are both mounted on deployable booms. From 850 to 1550 Hz the Langmuir probe once again experiences larger accelerations than the other instruments. The absolute maximum, 4.88 g, occurs nead 1300 Hz. In some regions one see a correlation between the curves of Langmuir probe and the other boom-mounted instruments. The three curves experience maxima and minima at similar frequencies between 700 and 800 Hz. 67

Figure 11.1: Vibration test 1 (sine)

11.3 Sines, test 2

With the exception of the particle counter, the Langmuir probe also in this test experiences lower accelerations than the other instruments at lowe frequencies. Between 150 and 250 Hz the forces are comparable to the ones experienced by the two other boom-mounted instruments. A signicant exception is found between 180 and 210 Hz, where the Langmuir probe has a local maximum of 18 g. The curve falls sharply between 250 and 260 Hz, and the response is lower than the two other boom-mounted instruments for frequencies up to 470 - 520 Hz. Here the Langmuir probe experience forces between 20 and 30 g, which is similar to that experienced by these instruments. The average response falls again between 520 to 630 Hz. Here the instrument experiences a 2 g force. The instrument has two maxima at 950 Hz (20 g) and 1350 Hz (43.48 g). The latter is the absolute maximum measured in this test. The Langmuir probe experiences greater forces than the other instruments in the frequency ranges 950 - 1100 and 1175 - 1600 Hz.

11.4 Random, 10g

Like the two previous tests, the Langmuir probe experiences lower g forces at low frequencies than most of the other experiments. The probe reaches the same force level as the other instruments at 55 Hz, bot between 60 and 125 Hz the g forces are once again lower than for the other instruments. Up to 250 Hz the instrument has approximately the same accelerations as the two other boom-mounted instruments. It is lower than the two for frequencies between 250 and 850 Hz. The g forces reach a maximum near 1250 Hz. 68

Figure 11.2: Vibration test 2 (sine)

11.5 Chapter summary

At low frequencies, the Langmuir probe experiences lower accelerations than the other boommounted experiments. In some frequency regions the shape of their acceleration curves are similar, but there are also regions where no correlation exists. The g forces experienced by the Langmuir probe have a maximum in the vicinity of 1250 Hz in all three tests.

69

Figure 11.3: Vibration test 3 (random)

70

Chapter 12

Activities in Ny-lesund

Figure 12.1: Main electronics readied for launch

12.1 Prelaunch activities

Figure 12.1 shows the main electronics board, ying leads and encoder connector prior to integration in the payload section (Figure 12.2). The screws that secured the main electronics card to the aluminium box were removed, and a drop of weak, red Locktite 222 was applied to x each screw in its respective hole. Finally, a thin layer of Elastosil A07 silicon glue was put on top of each bolt. 71

Figure 12.2: Main electronics box ready for launch The wingnut that xes the 2.5 V voltage reference to the card was tightened further with blue, strong Locktite 243. The ying lead that connected instrument and rocket ground was xated to the surface of the main electronics PCB with kapton tape and Elastosil A07 silicon glue. The preamplier card was pasted to the box oor with the previously mentioned silicon glue. After the electrical tests veried that the card still distributed correct voltage levels to the components, more glue was applied to make the card stable inside the electronics box. Figures 12.3 and 12.4 show the charge collecting probe and protective box on the deployable boom as seen from different angles. An extra lead was used to connect the box chassis to ground to prevent it from oating. It was handsoldered to ground at the 9-pin DSUB connector. The aluminium surfaces were covered with a layer of electrically conducting carbon just prior to mounting into the payload cylinder. No carbon should be spilled on the peak, as this may compromise the insulation. The peak was covered by a single layer of masking tape to prevent this from happening. The probe was mounted in a handdriven drill, and carbon was sprayed on while the probe was slowly rotated. Only one layer was applied. The reason for applying the carbon at the last possible moment was to reduce the risk of scratches in the surface of the probe. This would compromise the uniformity of the surface. The use of carbon on probe surfaces is discussed in Section 8.3.2. The carbon spray was Graphit 33 ledande lack. It is manufactured by CRC Industries in Mlndal, Sweden (phone 031-87 55 20). Graphit 33 has article number 925 in their product portifolio. When the tape was removed, it revealed that carbon had actually penetrated the tape and 72

Figure 12.3: Langmuir probe on instrument boom contaminated some of the peak (Figure 12.5). It had not gone through the entire insulation, so it kept its electrical properties. A practical lesson learnt here is to apply more than one layer of protective masking tape in future processes. The carbon was applied to the other metal surfaces by using a brush. No insulation was compromised. It was also suggested that the aluminium hemispheres should be sandblasted in water. This would improve the surface properties so the carbon would stick better to the surface (Asbjrn Sreide, private communication). It was too late in the process to try the method for this Langmuir probe. The individual instruments were tested after being mounted into the Hotel Payload. The output from the instrument was as expected. The data from those tests were not saved.

12.2 Launch
ICI-1 was launched at 12:05:30 UT on Nov 28, 2003 along the local geomagnetic eld lines with azimut and elevation of 190 and 83 degrees. ICI-1 would reach a near 300-km altitude apogee west of Longyearbyen, and would impact into the sea west of Wedel Jarlsberg Land. The nominal ight path is shown in Figures C.4 to C.6 [12]. Loss of signal occurred after 17 seconds at an altitude of 12 km. The data returned from the Langmuir probe are shown in Figure 12.6. Figures 12.7 and 12.8 show data from an accelerometer and a magnetometer. All three sensor plots show a transient at the time of loss of signal. When we compare Figure 12.8 with the nominal launch acceleration prole for a Nike-Improved Orion rocket (Figure C.3), we see that the ight appears normal up to 17 seconds after launch. 73

Figure 12.4: Langmuir probe from below the instrument boom The booster, conical adapter and parts of the payload were recovered in 2004 (Figures 12.9 and 12.10, courtesy Gudmund Hansen).

12.3 What went wrong?

A board was established to nd the reason or reasons behind the launch failure. The inquiry boards report concluded that [13] (...) the second stage with attached payload was not stiff enough to withstand the high dynamic pressure (400 kP) at the already marginal stability. (...) This marginal stability was mainly due to the low payload weight (58 kg). Increasing the payload weight would increase the static margin, but not reduce the dynamic pressure signicantly. To decrease the dynamic pressure, and thus the heating of the payload/adapter would require a rst stage motor that brings the second stage higher at ignition time (...).

74

Figure 12.5: Langmuir probe covered with carbon

Figure 12.6: Langmuir probe MSB 75

Figure 12.7: Transversal z-axis AC accelerometer data

Figure 12.8: Longitudinal z-axis DC accelerometer data

76

Figure 12.9: Debris from ICI-1 (Courtesy G. Hansen, ARR)

Figure 12.10: ICI-1s conical adapter (Courtesy G. Hansen, ARR)

77

Chapter 13

Discussion and conclusion

The Langmuir probe did not return any scientic data. It should be noted that it worked as expected during the prelaunch full-scale test with the other ICI-1 instruments and systems in Ny-lesund. Several mistakes were done while designing this prototype Langmuir probe. It is important that design errors and weaknesses, along with the chain of events that lead to them, are identied to ensure that they are not repeated.

13.1 Hardware
A second generation Langmuir probe could use replica of the hardware developed for this instrument. As noted in Chapter 12, Mr Sreide recommended that the charge-collecting probe should be sandblasted under water so the applied carbon sticks better to its surface. This piece of advice was obtained a few days before launch, and could not be implemented. On future ights, one might consider trying this. A number of possible improvements of the instrument are outlined in Section 13.4. Only approximately half of the surface area available on one side of the main electronics PCB was used. I believe that there is sufcient space available on this board to implement the improvements discussed below, so a second generation probe could still be own aboard a 200 mm diameter Hotel Payload. If one decides to proceed with a two- or three-channel instrument, larger openings for coaxial cable connectors in the walls of the main PCB box may however be required.

13.2 Resolution
One should consider sampling the data with 10 or 12 bit instead of 16 bit resolution. The noise voltage in the system was 3-5 mV. The number of bits used by the noise can be calculated: x 0.003 = x = 39.3 5 65536 log39.3/log2 = 5.29 (13.1) (13.2)

The input range of the AD converter was 5 V. The noise voltage then corresponds to 6 bits. This instrument was hence too noisy to utilize the entire 16-bit resolution - the lowest bits were hidden in noise. It is not a trivial task to build electronics with a sufcient low noise level to fully use a 16-bit AD-converter. The noise amplitude has to be lower than the size of the LSB. For an input signal with 5V amplitude, the noise for a 16-bit converter then has to be less or equal to 5V/65536 = 76 V. For 12 and 10-bit resolution AD-converters, the corresponding values of the LSB are 1.22 and 4.9 mV. 78

By using a lower resolution in future instruments, one can relax the SNR requirements (Eq 9.7) and use less complex lter circuits.

13.3 Weaknesses
A bad decision was done when the lter circuit was designed. The telemetry rate was guessed to be twice the actual rate. In future designs, such important design decisions should wait until the telemetry format and rate are frozen. I was not aware of any way to test surface-mounted components, and came up with the idea of using the test pads described in Section 9.8.5 too late in the project. The AD-converter was chosen after studying the data sheets, without testing the components on the bench. This error should never be done again. The greatest weakness in this project is the lack of testing. Time permitted only basic tests to be carried out. The probe should ideally have been tested in a plasma chamber to simulate the conditions in the ionosphere. An encoder simulator would also have been useful. The instrument was tested at ARR with the actual ight encoder in early October, less than two months before launch. LabView code should be developed to simplify long-term bench testing of the next version of this probe. The 15-pin connector was placed too far to the left in the opening of the preamplier box for the experiment to t inside the rocket skin. I was simply not aware of this restriction. The connector had to be removed, and ying leads used instead. This problem might have been avoided if drawings of the payload had been available. The design improvements suggested in the next section will increase the complexity of the instrument. One will have to rely on the FPGA to control the probe.

13.4 Design improvements

Some new features and improvements should be considered implemented in a second generation of this instrument.

13.4.1 Two or three channels

The current levels to be measured by the instrument are expected to cover ve decades. At low altitudes the currents are in the nA range, while transient currents inside a patch may reach 100 A. This instrument had only one channel. As shown in a PSpice simulation (Figure 9.8, also shown as Figure 13.1 for the readers convenience), a 10 A current would manifest itself as an 0.3 V voltage. The expected currents inside the patch, calculated in Chapter 2, would hence use only a fraction of the available output voltage range. The resolution of the Langmuir probe will be improved by the introduction of a second channel. The next version of this instrument should have two or three channels. For a two-channel instrument the primary channel should be designed to only measure the currents expected to be found inside the patch according to the calculations in Chapter 2, while the second channel should be used to record transients. For an instrument similar to this one, the prime and secondary channel would have maximum outputs for 25 and 100 A input currents, respectively. The main features of such an instrument are sketched in Figure 13.2. Two current-to-voltage (I2V) converter chains are used to measure different input ranges. The channel dedicated to measuring the larger currents up to 100 A could be identical to the one used in this instrument, while the new 25 A channel has to be developed. The only difference from the existing circuit are the values of the three resistors used for the current-to-voltage converters and and AD620 differential amplier (DA). The signals are forwarded to the main electronics board through two 79

Figure 13.1: Preamplier current-voltage response

Figure 13.2: Two-channel Langmuir probe coaxial cables, pass through two lter circuits and each is sampled by an AD converter. One may consider using one of the multi-channel AD-converters discussed in Section 9.8.5 for this task. Up to 200 km altitude, the currents will be in the nanoampere range. A third channel (Figure 13.3) could be implemented for measuring these weak currents during ascent and descent at altitudes below 200 km. The high- and low-current channels will not do useful measurements at the same time. The 80

Figure 13.3: Three-channel Langmuir probe channel with a 100 A input range will have an output near zero up to 200 km, while the third channel should be designed to reach full-scale output at the same altitude. Only two downlink channels are hence required. The FPGA should be programmed to switch between the two data streams at a given altitude or time. ICI-1 would e.g. pass 200 km altitude at 125 and 420 seconds. The primary 25 A channel should transmit continuously.

13.4.2 Logarithmic amplier

The properties of an one-channel instrument could also be improved by using a logarithmic ADconverter.

13.4.3 Oscillator
The AD-converter was a major problem with this instrument. One of several possible explanations for the malfunction is the lack of clock signals on the input terminal of the ADS8321. For simplicity, and to avoid component damage due to accident or neglect, one should not make electrical testing of the instrument dependent on clock sigals from a rocket encoder simulator. The next generation of this instrument should have an oscillator (OSC) and clock dividers to provide such signals (Figure 13.4).

13.4.4 Sigma-delta converter

The introduction of an oscillator also makes it possible to use a sigma-delta converter. Such a converter grossly oversamples the input signal and shapes the noise spectrum so the modulator appears to be a high-pass lter for the noise and a low-pass lter for the input signal [54]. The sampling frequency is much higher than that dictated by the Nyquist theorem. There is redundant information that can be eliminated without introducing distortion to the conversion results. This relaxes the requirements for the analog lter circuit. 81

Figure 13.4: Langmuir probe with oscillator It is beyond the scope of this work to discuss the quantization noise, noise spectrum, lter response and Laplace-and Z-transforms that apply for these converters. [54] and component data sheets give a relevant introduction to these issues.

13.4.5 Accelerometer
The output from the instrument on the launch pad was zero. This is an ambiguous value. One does not expect the instrument to measure any current at sea level. On the other hand, a zero output may also mean that the instrument has experienced an malfunction. The next Langmuir probe should be able to send status signals prior to liftoff to show that the instrument is alive. The instrument has to abandon this mode at liftoff. The FPGA hence requires an external lift-off pulse. At the reception of this pulse, the FPGA has to transmit only real data from the Langmuir probe to the encoder. I see two ways to generate such a pulse. One solution is to get a lift-off pulse from the encoder. There are currently three unused pins on the 15-pin DSUB that connects the instrument to the encoder. Two pins are required for the lift-off pulse and its return signal. To the best of my knowledge, no such pulse was provided by the ICI-1 encoder. Another solution is to use an accelerometer (ACC) to generate the lift-off pulse within the instrument itself (Figure 13.5). The Nike-Improved Orion rocket conguration has an 17 g acceleration of at liftoff, which increases to 23 at the burnout of the Nike rst stage (Figure C.3). This is sufcient for generating a clear lift-off pulse. A lot of accelerometers are commercially available. The input ranges vary from 2 to 100 g. One should select a unit that has an input range that matches the expected accelerations from the launch vehicle. It also has to be small enough to t inside the protective electronics box. Accelerometers usually make measurements along one or two axes. Care should be taken to ensure that the direction of measurement is parallel with the rockets z-axis. A simple technical solution is to solder the accelerometer terminals to a test pad (Section 9.8.5), and glue or/and 82

Figure 13.5: Langmuir probe with lift-off pulse accelerometers screw the test pad to the inner wall of the box. The test pad could be connected to the main PCB by short ying leads. Other and more elegant solutions may also be possible. The output from the accelerometer is sampled by an AD-converter. An eight-bit AD-converter is sufcient for this purpose. The lift-off pulse should be generated by the FPGA when the output from the accelerometer has passed a certain treshhold. This limit should be high enough so a liftoff pulse is not accidentally generated when the rocket is elevated from vertical to horizontal position on the launch pad. A shaking table should be developed to allow in-house testing of the accelerometer and the lift-off pulse generator function. It is not necessary to expose the instrument to a very high acceleration during basic tests of the FPGA and VHDL code. During these tests one only want to check that the system works as expected, and the VHDL code should be set to generate a lift-off pulse when the acceleration is larger than e.g. 2-5 g. An example of a shaker-table drive for a piezoelectric transducer shakertable control can be found in [6], page 197, and may be a starting point. The development of such a shaking table is too large an extra task for a student involved with building a rocket instrument. It should be considered as a separate Master project.

13.4.6 On-board data storage

Some rockets are recovered after ight (Section 5.1). If a future Langmuir probe were offered a ight on such a sounding rocket, one should consider using a mass storage (MS) device (Figure 13.6).

13.5 Costs
I had no xed budget. The total cost of the materials, mechanical work and electronic components was approximately 18.500 Norwegian crowns (Appendix G). The largest expenses were the preamplier and main electronics boards. Due to software problems it was not possible to apply 83

Figure 13.6: Langmuir probe with on-board data storage ground planes on the reverse sides of the boards, and time was spent trying to circumvent this problem. To compensate for the lost time, I ordered boards from Elprint with short delivery time.

13.6 Conclusion
The purpose of this work has been to develop a prototype Langmuir probe for the ICI-1 sounding rocket. I believe that the main components of the instrument have been successfully identied. It is however too early to declare this design as operative. More testing and development of new and better software is required. This instrument is still at the prototype stage, and should have this status until it has made at least one successful ight. During the process a number of possible improvements have been identied. They should be implemented in future instruments.

84

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Ionosphere

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auroral

precipitation.

waves

(geomagnetic

pulsations).

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91

Appendix A

Abbreviations
AC = alternating current ACC = accelerometer AD = analog to digital ADC = AD converter AGF = arktisk geofysikk ARR = Andya Rocket Range ARS = Andya Rakettskytefelt C = capacitor CDC = Current Density Coil CEPT = Centre detude des Environments Terrestres et Plantaires e CL = clipping CMOS = Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor CS = Chip Select CUTLASS = Co-operative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System CVCM = collected volatile condensible material DA = differential amplier DA = digital to analog DC = direct current DEOS = Dynamics of the equatorial atmosphere over Shar DMSP = Defence Meteorological Satellite Program EISCAT = European Incoherent Scatter EMC = Electromagnetic compatibility ESA = European Space Agency ESD = electrostatic discharge EUV = Extreme ultraviolet FBLP = xed bias Langmuir probe FIFO = rst in rst out FPGA = eld programmable gate array FR = ame retardant HF = High frequency HMD = hole-mounted device HP = high pass ICI = Investigation of Cusp Irregularities ICR = in-circuit recongurability Ie = electron current IMF = interplanetary magnetic eld I/O = in/out IRI = International Reference Ionosphere I2V = current to voltage 92

JTAG = Joint Test Action Group LED = light emitting diode D = Debye length LF = Low frequency LLBL = Low Latitude Boundary Layer LP = Langmuir probe LP = low pass LPCE = Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de lEnvironnement LSB = least signicant bit MAJF = Major frame MIDAS = Middle Atmosphere Dynamics and Structure MINF = Minor frame MLT = Magnetic Local Time MOSFET = Metal-oxide-semiconductor eld-effect transistor MS = mass storage MSB = most signicant bit MSP = meridian-scanning photometer NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration NDRE = Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) Ne = electron density Ni = ion density OCB = open/closed eld line boundary OSC = oscillator PIP = Positive Ion Probe PCB = printed circuit board PCM = pulse code modulation PWB = printed wiring board R = resistor RE = Earth radius SBLP = swept bias Langmuir probe SCLK = system clock SCM = Search Coil Magnetometer SEB = single event burnout SEDR = single event dielectric rupture SEE = single event effect SEFI = single event functional interrupt SEGR = single event gate rupture SEL = single event latchup SERSIO = Svalbard Eiscat Rocket Study of Ion Outows SEU = single event upset SHE = single hard error SII = Suprathermal Ion Imager SMD = surface-mounted device SNR = signal to noise ratio SO = small outline Te = electron temperature Ti = ion temperature TML = Total mass loss TP = test point TQFP = thin quad at pack UHF = ultra-high frequency UNIS = The University Centre on Svalbard (Eng) UNIS = Universitetsstudiene p Svalbard (Nor) UoB = University of Bergen 93

UoC = University of Calgary UoO = University of Oslo UT = Universal Time VHDL = Very high speed integrated circuits Hardware Description Language VI = voltage-current Vs = relative spacecraft potential V2I = voltage to current converter

94

Appendix B

Nomenclatura
fc = cyclotron frequency fc = cutoff frequency
0 r

= permittivity in vacuum = 8.85 1012 F/m = relative permittivity

k = Boltzman constant = 1.38 1023 J/K D = Debye length q = unit charge = 9.11 1031 C = cyclotron radius = Stefan-Boltzmann constant = 5.67 108 W/m2 K 4 Source: [44]

95

Appendix C

Flight events
Prior to launch one anticipated that ICI-1 would be launched with an elevation of 83 degrees. Table C1 gives an overview of the major ight events. The calculations assume a payload mass of 53.4 kg [12]. Figures C.1 to C.3 show ICI-1s velocity, altitude and acceleration as a function of ight time. Figures C.4 to C.6 show the rockets trajectory as seen from three different angles.

Event Nike ignition Nike burnourt Improved Orion ignition Improved Orion burnout Nosecone release Hotel cylinder release Pin pullers ignition UoO E-els boom release Booms relase Apogee Impact

Flight time [s] 0 3.54 9.0 34.4 45 46 46.5 48 49 269 525

Altitude [km] 0.032 1.2 4.1 44.0 66.4 68.4 69.4 72.5 74.5 295 0

range [km] 0 0.16 0.57 7.4 11.5 11.9 12.1 12.7 13.1 95 190

v [m/s] 0 612 475 2197 2095 2086 2081 2067 2058 382 1765

Table C.1: ICI-1 ight events

96

Figure C.1: Velocity as a function of time

Figure C.2: Altitude as a function of time

97

Figure C.3: Acceleration as a function of time

Figure C.4: Three-dimensional view of ICI-1s nominal ight path.

98

Figure C.5: Horizontal projection of ICI-1s nominal ight path

Figure C.6: Vertical projection of ICI-1s nominal ight path

99

Appendix D

IRI-95 calculations
The electron densities and temperatures had to be calculated in advance to estimate the currents measured by the Langmuir Probe. Te and Ne were obtained by using the IRI-95 model. Two approaches have been followed. First, numbers from [37] were used. They were compared with results from simulations using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-95) Model, which is available online at [52] The sounding rocket proposal foresaw a two week campaign starting on November 23rd, 2003, with a 4 hour launch window opening every day at 0800 UT. Height proles of the electron densities and temperatures have been simulated between 140 and 320 km for November 23rd, December 1st and 8th. 140 km is the lowest altitude available in the online model. It is important to note that the numbers come from simulations, and do not take into account events of increased particle precipitation. ICI-1 was launched at 12:05 UT on Nov 28. The electron temperture and density for 12:00 UT on Dec 1 are illustrated in Figures 2.1 and 2.2.

100

Time 230800 230900 231000 231100 231200 -

Altitude [km] 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320

Ne [cm3 ] 423 608 1910 16516 51481 125364 185355 201584 197644 423 608 1910 20266 61698 140642 197978 209412 204445 571 820 2576 48984 128812 228812 270764 267857 257177 604 867 2723 54834 142164 249767 292858 289058 277212 569 817 2567 49191 132474 244193 295614 294170 283006

Te [K] 547 635 910 1219 1505 1814 2099 2360 2365 547 635 920 1241 1537 1858 2154 2424 2425 549 636 967 1346 1697 2077 2427 2746 2743 551 636 956 1323 1662 2030 2368 2681 2698 554 635 926 1255 1559 1888 2192 2477 2519

I 3.4 nA 5.4 nA 20 nA 20 nA 0.7 A 1.9 A 3.0 A 3.4 A 3.4 A 3.5 nA 5.4 nA 20 nA 0.3 A 0.9 A 2.1 A 3.2 A 3.6 A 3.5 A 4.7 nA 7.3 nA 28 nA 0.6 A 1.9 A 3.7 A 4.7 A 4.9 A 4.7 A 4.9 nA 7.7 nA 30 nA 0.7 A 2.0 A 4.0 A 5.0 A 5.2 A 5.0 A 4.7 nA 7.2 nA 27 nA 0.6 A 1.8 A 3.7 A 4.9 A 5.1 A 5.0 A

Table D.1: Current estimates Nov 23d, 2003

101

Time 010800 010900 011000 011100 011200 -

Altitude [km] 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320

Ne [cm3 ] 422 606 1905 11012 43092 110167 168918 187962 184859 430 617 1938 27287 79387 164616 216261 221417 214787 500 718 2257 43550 116045 210866 252765 250870 241189 529 760 2387 51259 133110 234118 274647 271113 260030 502 721 2266 46940 125970 230871 278343 276660 266063

Te [K] 543 631 907 1217 1503 1813 2099 2360 2365 545 632 947 1306 1639 1999 2330 2631 2623 546 633 963 1344 1695 2075 2426 2746 2743 549 632 953 1321 1660 2028 2368 2681 2698 551 631 922 1252 1557 1887 2191 2477 2519

I 3.5 nA 5.4 nA 20 nA 0.1 A 0.6 A 1.6 A 2.7 A 3.2 A 3.2 A 3.5 nA 5.5 nA 21 nA 0.4 A 1.1 A 2.6 A 3.7 A 4.0 A 3.9 A 4.1 nA 6.4 nA 25 nA 0.6 A 1.7 A 3.4 A 4.4 A 4.6 A 4.4 A 4.4 nA 6.7 nA 26 nA 0.7 A 1.9 A 3.7 A 4.7 A 4.9 A 4.7 A 4.1 nA 6.4 nA 24 nA 0.6 A 1.7 A 3.5 A 4.6 A 4.8 A 4.7 A

Table D.2: Current estimates for Dec 1st, 2003

102

Time 080800 080900 081000 081100 081200 -

Altitude [km] 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320 140 150 174 200 224 250 274 300 320

Ne [cm3 ] 421 604 1899 8366 33163 90895 146898 169558 167509 421 604 1899 21722 64863 141492 192736 200494 195133 439 630 1979 37063 100697 187586 228592 227909 219485 465 667 2095 46852 121600 213547 250191 246896 236793 445 638 2006 44163 117614 213202 255075 253004 243144

Te [K] 540 627 903 1213 1500 1811 2098 2360 2365 541 628 943 1303 1636 1997 2330 2631 2623 543 628 959 1340 1692 2074 2416 2746 2743 545 628 949 1317 1658 2027 2367 2681 2698 547 627 918 1249 1554 1885 2190 2477 2519

I 3.4 nA 5.3 nA 20 nA 0.1 A 0.4 A 1.4 A 2.4 A 2.9 A 2.9 A 3.4 nA 5.3 nA 20 nA 0.3 A 0.9 A 2.2 A 3.3 A 3.6 A 3.5 A 3.4 nA 5.5 nA 22 nA 0.5 A 1.5 A 3.0 A 4.0 A 4.2 A 4.0 A 3.8 nA 5.9 nA 23 nA 0.6 A 1.8 A 3.4 A 4.3 A 4.5 A 4.3 A 3.4 nA 5.6 nA 21 nA 0.6 A 1.6 A 3.2 A 4.2 A 4.4 A 4.3 A

Table D.3: Current estimates for Dec 8th, 2003

103

Appendix E

Preamplier component list

104

Appendix F

Main PCB component list

105

Appendix G

Costs
The material and work costs of the Langmuir probe were approximately 18.500 NOK. Mechanical workshop : 7500.00 PWBs : 6282.00 Components : 4700.00 Total : 18482.00

G.1 Mechanical workshop

The materials and work done at the Machanical Workshop cost 7500.00 NOK (T. A. Agnalt, private communication).

G.2 PWBs
The preamplier and main electronics PWB were produced by Elprint. Three preampliers were ordered, each at a price of 627.00 NOK. The two large main electronics PWBs cost 2200.50 NOK each.

G.3 Components
The components were ordered from ELFA and Farnell. Some were already available in the laboratory, so no new costs were generated. It is not possible to accurately calculate the costs of e.g. hole-mounted resistors and capacitors used when building and testing the circuitry on a breadboard, so some reasonable approximations should be used. ELFA: Component Price # Total E-73-023-18 97.00/ea 5 485.00 E-73-383-87 176.00/ea 2 352.00 E-65-766-31 0.618/100 69 42.60 E-65-800-47 0.376/100 2 0.75 E-65-780-82 0.302/100 2 0.60 E-65780-90 1.77/100 2 3.50 E-65-781-16 2.68/100 2 5.40 E-65-763-00 0.302/100 2 0.60 E-65-763-26 0.518/100 4 2.10 E-46-191-77 44.60/ea 8 356.80 E-44-164-18 49.80/ea 2 99.60 E-44-068-15 15.80/ea 2 31.60 E43-704-33 31.50/ea 2 63.00 E-70-300-34 0.689/25 8 5.50 E-70-323-03 0.97/25 6 5.80 E-67-133-25 4.15/ea 2 8.30 E-73-228-29 37.00/ea 2 74.00 E-69-584-41 337.00/ea 2 674.00 E-73-055-01 29.20/ea 2 58.40 E-67-744-91 10.80/ea 2 21.60 E-67-737-66 1.99/10 2 4.00 E-67-737-82 1.99/10 5 9.95 E-73-30228 6.64/ea 3 19.90 0805 resistors 0.329/100 56 18.40 Farnell: 334-2980 67.05/ea 6 402.30 578-320 14.32/ea 2 28.60 317-706 4.88/ea 2 9.80 549-629 51.60/ea 4 103.20 306-9849 3.42/ea 2 6.80 4414780 44.92/ea 4 179.70 ACEX 1k 389.95/ea 2 779.90 EPCSLC20 394.00/ea 2 778.00 Total : 4631.79 = 4700,-

106

Appendix H

Cadstar-les
The electronics was designed by using Cadstar software. Layout was done by using Macaos software. These les were sent to Elprint in Bergen for production. The appendix contains the following les: Preamplier - schematic circuit diagram Preamplier - top silk layer Preamplier - top electric layer Preamplier - bottom silk layer Preamplier - bottom electric layer Preamplier - components only Preamplier - drill Main electronics - overview (Norwegian) Main electronics - lter circuit Main electronics - Altera and ADC Main electronics - encoder interface electronics Main electronics - Power and encoder interface 15-pin DSUB Main electronics - top silk layer Main electronics - top electric layer Main electronics - bottom silk layer Main electronics - bottom electric layer Main electronics - drill le Main electronics - component placement Main electronics - white background Main electronics - black background Main electronics - default le

107

Figure H.1: Preamplier - schematic circuit diagram

108

Figure H.2: Preamplier - top silk layer

Figure H.3: Preamplier - top electric layer

109

Figure H.4: Preamplier - bottom silk layer

Figure H.5: Preamplier - bottom electric layer

110

Figure H.6: Preamplier - components only

Figure H.7: Preamplier - drill le

111

Figure H.8: Main electroncs - overview (Norwegian)

112

Figure H.9: Main electronics - lter circuit

113

Figure H.10: Main electronics - Altera and AD-converter

114

Figure H.11: Main electronics - encoder interface electronics

115

Figure H.12: Main electronics - DCDC converter and encoder interface 15-pin DSUB

116

Figure H.13: Main electronics - top silk layer

117

Figure H.14: Main electronics - top electric layer

118

Figure H.15: Main electronics - bottom silk layer

119

Figure H.16: Main electronics - bottom electric layer

120

Figure H.17: Main electronics - drill le

121

Figure H.18: Main electronics - components only

122

Figure H.19: Main electronics - white background

123

Figure H.20: Main electronics - black background

124

Figure H.21: Main electronics - default le

125

Appendix I

AutoCAD-drawings
The hardware drawings are created in AutoCAD version 14. Seven pieces of hardware are required for the probe. Main PCB box Main PCB box cover Main PCB dimensions Preamplier box Preamplier box boom bracket 9-pin DSUB bracket Charge-collecting sphere and protective tube

126

Figure I.1: Main PCB box

127

Figure I.2: Main PCB box cover

128

Figure I.3: Main PCB dimensions

129

Figure I.4: Preamplier box 130

Figure I.5: Preamplier boom box bracket

131

Figure I.6: 9-pin DSUB bracket

132

Figure I.7: Charge-collecting sphere and protective tube

133

Appendix J

New components
The AD8552, ADS8320 and ADS8321 were not dened in the Cadstar software when I began designing the electronics. AD 8552 .OPAMP/AD8552/(FARNELL 334-2980) SOIC-8(OUTLINE) *SPI (OPAMP/AD8552) AD8552 OP0 3.3 2.0 1.1 5.3 6.0 7.1 /VPOS 8!P /GND 4!P ADS8320 //(Similar to ADS7816) .ADC/ADS8320/ (E-73-382-54) MSOP-8 ? 1.1 2.1 3.1 5.0 6.0 7.0 /VPOS 8!P /VNEG 4!P ADS8321 //(Similar to ADS7816) .ADC/ADS8321/ (E-73-383-87) MSOP-8 ? 1.1 2.1 3.1 5.0 6.0 7.0 /VPOS 8!P /VNEG 4!P

134

Appendix K

Voltage to current converter

A series of tests with different input voltages, conversion resistors (R1 in Figure 9.9) and load resistors (RLOAD ) were done to empirically nd a conversion factor between voltages and currents for the AD620 voltage to current converter. A sine voltage was applied to the positive input terminal. The voltage drop over a load resistor whose second terminal was connected to ground was observed with an oscilloscope. The current through this resistor can then be calculated from Ohms law. Suitable conversion resistors were chosen to create currents between 107 and 105 A. In some of the tests the signal was distorted by clipping. The testing of the instrument would be simplied if one could nd an exact expression for the output current. The rst approach was to rewrite Eq. 9.4 as IL = VIN + G a(f ) R1 (K.1)

where a(f) is a function whose value depends only on the input frequency f. The tests showed that this assumption was wrong, the conversion factor also depends on the value of the R1 resistor, VIN + G a(f, R1 ) R1

IL =

(K.2)

The gain resistor RG was 40 k during all the tests. According to Equation .5, the gain G is then 2.25. The measured currents were higher than the calculated ones, and the difference was reduced with increasing frequency. The input signals had amplitudes of 800, 600, 400, 300 and 200 mV. Clipping (CL) was experienced in some of the tests. The tables K1 to K6 show measured voltages over the load resistor and calculated currents for three sets of conversion and load resistors. In the rst test R1 and RLOAD were 27.97 and 17.89 k, in test two the resistors were increased to 273.6 and 172.3 k, and in the third and last series R1 = 5.08 M and RLOAD = 1.023 M . Table K7 shows the currents calculated by using Ohms law for the corresponding voltage drops over RLOAD . Tables K8 to K10 show the ratios between the measured and calculated currents. It is larger than unity in the lter passband. The tests show that the ratio is near unity for for frequencies between 3 and 3.5 kHz in the rst test. It is unity between 2.5 and 3 kHz in test two. In the third test unity is reached near the cutoff frequency of the lter.

135

f [Hz] 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

V800 CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL

V600 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.08 1.06 1.06 1.06 1.04 1.02 1.00 0.96 0.96 0.94 0.94 0.88 0.84 0.80 0.78 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.74 0.72 0.70 0.70

V400 1.18 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.12 1.10 1.05 1.04 1.02 1.00 0.96 0.96 0.88 0.86 0.84 0.82 0.80 0.78 0.77 0.74 0.72 0.70 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.66 0.65 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.58 0.56 0.54 0.54 0.53 0.53 0.52 0.52

V300 0.8 0.9 0.88 0.88 0.84 0.82 0.80 0.76 0.72 0.72 0.70 0.68 0.65 0.62 0.60 0.58 0.58 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.52 0.52 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.48 0.46 0.44 0.42 0.41 0.40 0.40 0.38 0.38 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36

V200 0.64 0.68 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.64 0.62 0.60 0.58 0.58 0.54 0.54 0.53 0.52 0.50 0.48 0.46 0.44 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.40 0.40 0.38 0.38 0.37 0.35 0.35 0.32 0.30 0.30 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.26

Table K.1: Voltages, RL = 27.97 k, RLOAD = 17.89 k

136

f [Hz] 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

I800 -

I600 9.50E-5 9.50E-5 9.50E-5 9.50E-5 9.50E-5 9.50E-5 9.22E-5 8.94E-5 8.38E-5 8.38E-5 8.11E-5 7.83E-5 7.55E-5 7.27E-5 6.99E-5 6.71E-5 6.15E-5 6.04E-5 5.93E-5 5.93E-5 5.93E-5 5.81E-5 5.70E-5 5.59E-5 5.37E-5 5.37E-5 5.25E-5 5.25E-5 4.92E-5 4.70E-5 4.47E-5 4.36E-5 4.25E-5 4.25E-5 4.25E-5 4.14E-5 4.02E-5 3.91E-5 3.91E-5

I400 6.6E-5 6.48E-5 6.48E-5 6.48E-5 6.48E-5 6.26E-5 6.15E-5 5.87E-5 5.81E-5 5.70E-5 5.59E-5 5.37E-5 5.37E-5 4.92E-5 4.81E-5 4.70E-5 4.58E-5 4.47E-5 4.36E-5 4.30E-5 4.14E-5 4.02E-5 3.91E-5 3.80E-5 3.80E-5 3.69E-5 3.69E-5 3.63E-5 3.35E-5 3.35E-5 3.35E-5 3.24E-5 3.13E-5 3.02E-5 3.02E-5 2.96E-5 2.96E-5 2.91E-5 2.91E-5

V300 4.47E-5 5.03E-5 4.92E-5 4.92E-5 4.58E-5 4.58E-5 4.47E-5 4.25E-5 4.02E-5 4.02E-5 3.91E-5 3.80E-5 3.63E-5 3.47E-5 3.35E-5 3.24E-5 3.24E-5 3.13E-5 3.07E-5 3.02E-5 2.91E-5 2.91E-5 2.79E-5 2.79E-5 2.79E-5 2.68E-5 2.57E-5 2.46E-5 2.35E-5 2.29E-5 2.24E-5 2.24E-5 2.12E-5 2.12E-5 2.01E-5 2.01E-5 2.01E-5 2.01E-5

I200 3.58E-5 3.80E-5 3.69E-5 3.69E-5 3.69E-5 3.58E-5 3.47E-5 3.35E-5 3.24E-5 3.24E-5 3.02E-5 3.02E-5 2.96E-5 2.91E-5 2.79E-5 2.68E-5 2.57E-5 2.46E-5 2.46E-5 2.40E-5 2.35E-5 2.29E-5 2.24E-5 2.24E-5 2.12E-5 2.12E-5 2.07E-5 1.96E-5 1.96E-5 1.79E-5 1.68E-5 1.68E-5 1.57E-5 1.57E-5 1.51E-5 1.45E-5 1.45E-5 1.45E-5

Table K.2: Currents, RL = 27.97 k, RLOAD = 17.89 k

137

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

V800 CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL 1.55 1.50 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.40 1.35 1.30 1.30 1.25 1.25 1.20 1.20 1.20 1.10 1.05 1.02 1.00 0.98 0.96 0.94 0.92 0.90 0.88 0.88

V600 CL CL CL CL CL 1.65 1.65 1.60 1.55 1.50 1.50 1.40 1.35 1.30 1.30 1.30 1.25 1.20 1.15 1.10 1.08 1.04 1.04 1.00 0.98 0.96 0.94 0.92 0.92 0.90 0.84 0.80 0.78 0.76 0.74 0.72 0.72 0.70 0.68 0.68 0.68

V400 1.10 1.10 1.10 1.10 1.10 1.08 1.05 1.02 0.98 0.96 0.92 0.88 0.84 0.82 0.80 0.80 0.76 0.74 0.72 0.70 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.64 0.62 0.62 0.60 0.56 0.54 0.52 0.52 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.46 0.46 0.45

V300 0.84 0.84 0.84 0.82 0.82 0.80 0.78 0.76 0.74 0.70 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.61 0.60 0.59 0.58 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.52 0.51 0.50 0.49 0.48 0.47 0.46 0.45 0.42 0.41 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.34 0.34

V200 0.64 0.62 0.62 0.60 0.59 0.58 0.57 0.56 0.54 0.52 0.50 0.48 0.46 0.45 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.32 0.32 0.30 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.25

Table K.3: Voltages, RL = 273.6k , RLOAD = 172.3 k

138

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

I800 9.00E-6 8.71E-6 8.42E-6 8.42E-6 8.42E-6 8.13E-6 7.84E-6 7.54E-6 7.54E-6 7.25E-6 7.25E-6 6.96E-6 6.96E-6 6.96E-6 6.38E-6 6.09E-6 5.92E-6 5.80E-6 5.69E-6 5.57E-6 5.46E-6 5.34E-6 5.22E-6 5.11E-6 5.11E-6

I600 9.58E-6 9.58E-6 9.29E-6 9.00E-6 8.71E-6 8.71E-6 8.13E-6 7.84E-6 7.54E-6 7.54E-6 7.54E-6 7.25E-6 6.96E-6 6.67E-6 6.38E-6 6.27E-6 6.04E-6 6.04E-6 5.80E-6 5.69E-6 5.57E-6 5.46E-6 5.34E-6 5.34E-6 5.22E-6 4.88E-6 4.64E-6 4.53E-6 4.41E-6 4.29E-6 4.18E-6 4.18E-6 4.06E-6 3.95E-6 3.95E-6 3.83E-6

I400 6.38E-6 6.38E-6 6.38E-6 6.38E-6 6.38E-6 6.27E-6 6.09E-6 5.92E-6 5.69E-6 5.57E-6 5.34E-6 5.11E-6 4.88E-6 4.76E-6 4.64E-6 4.64E-6 4.41E-6 4.29E-6 4.18E-6 4.06E-6 3.95E-6 3.95E-6 3.83E-6 3.71E-6 3.71E-6 3.60E-6 3.60E-6 3.48E-6 3.25E-6 3.13E-6 3.02E-6 3.02E-6 2.79E-6 2.79E-6 2.79E-6 2.73E-6 2.67E-6 2.61E-6 2.61E-6

I300 4.88E-6 4.88E-6 4.88E-6 4.76E-6 4.76E-6 4.64E-6 4.53E-6 4.41E-6 4.29E-6 4.06E-6 3.95E-6 3.83E-6 3.71E-6 3.54E-6 3.48E-6 3.42E-6 3.37E-6 3.25E-6 3.19E-6 3.13E-6 3.02E-6 2.96E-6 2.90E-6 2.84E-6 2.79E-6 2.73E-6 2.67E-6 2.61E-6 2.44E-6 2.38E-6 2.32E-6 2.26E-6 2.21E-6 2.15E-6 2.09E-6 2.03E-6 1.97E-6 1.97E-6 1.97E-6

Table K.4: Currents, RL = 273.6k , RLOAD = 172.3 k

139

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

V800 CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL CL 0.54 0.52 0.51 0.50 0.48 0.46 0.44 0.43 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.38 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.34 0.33 0.33 0.31 0.29 0.27 0.25 0.24 0.23 0.22 0.21 0.20 0.19 0.17

V600 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.49 0.48 0.47 0.46 0.44 0.42 0.41 0.39 0.38 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.30 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.23 0.21 0.21 0.20 0.19 0.18 0.17 0.16 0.15 0.14 0.13

V400 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.33 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.30 0.29 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.24 0.23 0.22 0.22 0.21 0.21 0.20 0.19 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.16 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.09

V300 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.21 0.21 0.20 0.19 0.18 0.18 0.17 0.17 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.15 0.15 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.07 0.07

Table K.5: RL = 5.08 M, RLOAD = 1.023 M

140

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

I800 5.28E-7 5.08E-7 4.99E-7 4.89E-7 4.69E-7 4.50E-7 4.30E-7 4.20E-7 4.01E-7 4.01E-7 3.91E-7 3.71E-7 3.62E-7 3.52E-7 3.42E-7 3.32E-7 3.32E-7 3.23E-7 3.23E-7 3.03E-7 2.83E-7 2.64E-7 2.44E-7 2.35E-7 2.25E-7 2.15E-7 2.05E-7 1.96E-7 1.86E-7 1.66E-7

I600 4.69E-7 4.69E-7 4.69E-7 4.79E-7 4.69E-7 4.59E-7 4.50E-7 4.30E-7 4.11E-7 4.01E-7 3.81E-7 3.71E-7 3.52E-7 3.52E-7 3.42E-7 3.32E-7 3.13E-7 3.13E-7 3.03E-7 2.93E-7 2.83E-7 2.74E-7 2.74E-7 2.64E-7 2.54E-7 2.54E-7 2.54E-7 2.44E-7 2.25E-7 2.05E-7 2.05E-7 1.96E-7 1.86E-7 1.76E-7 1.66E-7 1.56E-7 1.47E-7 1.37E-7 1.27E-7

I400 3.13E-7 3.13E-7 3.13E-7 3.23E-7 3.13E-7 3.13E-7 3.03E-7 2.93E-7 2.83E-7 2.74E-7 2.64E-7 2.54E-7 2.44E-7 2.44E-7 2.35E-7 2.25E-7 2.15E-7 2.15E-7 2.05E-7 2.05E-7 1.96E-7 1.86E-7 1.76E-7 1.76E-7 1.76E-7 1.66E-7 1.66E-7 1.66E-7 1.66E-7 1.56E-7 1.37E-7 1.37E-7 1.27E-7 1.27E-7 1.17E-7 1.08E-7 1.08E-7 9.78E-8 8.80E-8 8.8E-8

V300 2.35E-7 2.35E-7 2.35E-7 2.35E-7 2.35E-7 2.25E-7 2.25E-7 2.15E-7 2.05E-7 2.05E-7 1.96E-7 1.86E-7 1.76E-7 1.76E-7 1.66E-7 1.66E-7 1.56E-7 1.56E-7 1.56E-7 1.47E-7 1.47E-7 1.37E-7 1.37E-7 1.37E-7 1.27E-7 1.27E-7 1.27E-7 1.17E-7 1.17E-7 1.08E-7 9.78E-8 9.78E-8 8.80E-8 8.80E-8 8.80E-8 7.82E-8 7.82E-8 6.84E-8 6.84E-8

Table K.6: RL = 5.08 M, RLOAD = 1.023 M Test 1 2 3 IL800 6.58E-6 3.54E-7 IL600 4.83E-5 4.93E-6 2.66E-7 IL400 3.22E-5 3.29E-6 1.77E-7 VL300 2.41E-5 2.47E-6 1.33E-7 IL200 1.61E-5 1.64E-6 -

Table K.7: Calculated currents

141

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

I800 -

I600 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.91 1.85 1.74 1.74 1.68 1.62 1.56 1.51 1.45 1.39 1.27 1.25 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.20 1.18 1.16 1.11 1.11 1.09 1.09 1.02 0.97 0.93 0.90 0.88 0.88 0.88 0.86 0.83 0.81 0.81

I400 2.05 2.02 2.02 2.02 2.02 1.95 1.91 1.82 1.81 1.77 1.74 1.67 1.67 1.53 1.49 1.46 1.42 1.39 1.35 1.34 1.29 1.25 1.22 1.18 1.18 1.15 1.15 1.13 1.04 1.04 1.04 1.01 0.97 0.94 0.94 0.92 0.92 0.90 0.90

V300 1.85 2.08 2.04 2.04 1.90 1.90 1.85 1.76 1.67 1.67 1.62 1.58 1.51 1.44 1.39 1.34 1.34 1.30 1.27 1.25 1.20 1.20 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.11 1.07 1.02 0.97 0.95 0.93 0.93 0.88 0.88 0.83 0.83 0.83 0.83

I200 2.22 2.36 2.29 2.29 2.29 2.22 2.15 2.08 2.02 2.02 1.88 1.88 1.84 1.81 1.74 1.67 1.60 1.53 1.53 1.49 1.46 1.42 1.39 1.39 1.32 1.32 1.29 1.22 1.22 1.11 1.04 1.04 0.97 0.97 0.94 0.90 0.90 0.90

Table K.8: Current ratios, RL = 27.97 k, RLOAD = 17.89 k

142

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

I800 1.37 1.32 1.28 1.28 1.28 1.24 1.19 1.15 1.15 1.10 1.10 1.06 1.06 1.06 0.97 0.93 0.90 0.88 0.86 0.85 0.83 0.81 0.79 0.78 0.78

I600 1.94 1.94 1.88 1.82 1.76 1.76 1.65 1.59 1.53 1.53 1.53 1.47 1.41 1.35 1.29 1.27 1.22 1.22 1.18 1.15 1.13 1.11 1.08 1.08 1.06 0.99 0.94 0.92 0.89 0.87 0.85 0.85 0.82 0.80 0.80 0.78

I400 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.91 1.85 1.80 1.73 1.69 1.62 1.55 1.48 1.45 1.41 1.41 1.34 1.31 1.27 1.24 1.20 1.20 1.16 1.13 1.13 1.09 1.09 1.06 0.99 0.95 0.92 0.92 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.83 0.81 0.79 0.79

V300 1.98 1.98 1.98 1.93 1.93 1.88 1.83 1.79 1.74 1.65 1.60 1.55 1.51 1.44 1.41 1.39 1.36 1.32 1.29 1.27 1.22 1.20 1.18 1.15 1.13 1.11 1.08 1.06 0.99 0.96 0.94 0.92 0.89 0.87 0.85 0.82 0.80 0.80 0.80

I200 2.26 2.19 2.19 2.12 2.08 2.05 2.01 1.98 1.91 1.83 1.76 1.69 1.62 1.59 1.55 1.52 1.48 1.45 1.41 1.38 1.34 1.31 1.27 1.24 1.20 1.20 1.20 1.13 1.13 1.06 0.99 0.99 0.95 0.92 0.92 0.88 0.88 0.88

Table K.9: Current ratios, RL = 273.6k , RLOAD = 172.3 k

143

f [Hz] 1 5 10 20 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

I800 1.49 1.43 1.41 1.38 1.32 1.27 1.21 1.19 1.13 1.13 1.10 1.05 1.02 0.99 0.97 0.94 0.94 0.91 0.91 0.86 0.80 0.74 0.69 0.66 0.63 0.61 0.58 0.55 0.52 0.47

I600 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.80 1.77 1.73 1.69 1.62 1.54 1.51 1.43 1.40 1.32 1.32 1.29 1.25 1.18 1.18 1.14 1.10 1.07 1.03 1.03 0.99 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.92 0.85 0.77 0.77 0.74 0.70 0.66 0.63 0.59 0.55 0.51 0.48

I400 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.82 1.77 1.77 1.71 1.66 1.60 1.54 1.49 1.43 1.38 1.39 1.32 1.27 1.21 1.21 1.16 1.16 1.10 1.05 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.88 0.77 0.77 0.72 0.72 0.66 0.61 0.61 0.55 0.50 0.50

V300 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.69 1.69 1.62 1.54 1.54 1.47 1.40 1.32 1.32 1.25 1.25 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.10 1.10 1.03 1.03 1.03 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.88 0.88 0.81 0.74 0.74 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.59 0.59 0.51 0.51

I200 -

Table K.10: Current ratios RL = 5.08 M, RLOAD = 1.023 M

144

Appendix L

Filter circuit test

145

f [Hz] 10 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400 425 450 475 500 525 550 575 600 625 650 675 700 725 750 775 800 825 850

V [V] 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3

f [Hz] 875 900 925 950 975 1000 1025 1050 1075 1100 1125 1150 1175 1200 1225 1250 1275 1300 1325 1350 1375 1400 1425 1450 1475 1500 1525 1550 1575 1600 1625 1650 1675 1700 1725

V [V] 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.3

f [Hz] 1750 1775 1800 1825 1850 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 2075 2100 2125 2150 2200 2225 2250 2275 2300 2325 2350 2375 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 -

V [V] 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 -

Table L.1: Filter circuit test

146

Appendix M

Telemetry formats
M.1 Telemetry format, effective 020703
The lter circuit was designed by using the telemetry format effective in primo July 2003. Here the Langmuir Probe was assigned the second nibble of word 9, the entire word 10 and the rst nibble of word 11. The same system applied for word 30, 31 and 32, 51, 52 and 53, and 72, 73 and 74.

M.2 Telemetry format, effective 281103

The Langmuir Probe was assigned words 12, 13, 60 and 61 in the telemetry format used during ICI-1s ight. Abbreviations: SSD E = SSD Electron fst (16) SSD P = SSD Proton fst (17) SSD DC1M = SSD DC1 MSB (24) SSD DC1L = SSD DC1 LSB (25) SSD 45DE = SSD 45deg Electron (44) SSD 45DP = SSD 45deg Proton (45) MSB Mag = MSB Mag X, ACC X dc, Z (48) LSB Mag = LSB Mag X lsb, ACC X DC, Z (49) SSD DC2M = SSD DC2 MSB (72) SSD DC2L = SSD DC2 LSB (73) HK = Analog Sub Com (88) FC = Format counter (92 and 93) None of the data transmitted on the sub-commutated channels in word 88 were gathered from the Langmuir probe. Details about these channels are hence omitted here, but can be found in the ICI-1 ight requirement plan.

147

W-N 1-1 3-1 5-1 7-1 9-1 11-1 13-1 15-1 17-1 19-1 21-1 23-1 25-1 27-1 29-1 31-1 33-1 35-1 37-1 39-1 41-1 43-1 45-1 47-1 49-1 51-1 53-1 55-1 57-1 59-1 61-1 63-2 65-1 67-1 69-1 71-1 73-1 75-1 77-1 79-1 81-1 83-1 85-1

Content SCM MSB AC1 MSB SCM LSB CDC LSB SCM LSB LP LSB FST S E SCM MSB PIP MSB SCM MSB DC1 LSB SCM LSB AC1 LSB MaA MSB SCM MSB LP MSB SCM MSB SCM LSB Proton SCM MSB AC1 MSB SCM MSB CDC LSB SCM LSB LP LSB Fst S E SCM MSB PIP MSB SCM MSB DC2 LSB SCM LSB AC1 LSB SCM MSB LP MSB SCM MSB SFID SCM MSB HKo MSB SCM MSB FSLAST

W-N 1-2 3-2 5-2 7-2 9-2 11-2 13-2 15-2 17-2 19-2 21-2 23-2 25-2 27-2 29-2 31-2 33-2 35-2 37-2 39-2 41-2 43-2 45-2 47-2 49-2 51-2 53-2 55-2 57-2 59-2 61-2 63-2 65-2 67-2 69-2 71-1 73-2 75-2 77-2 79-2 81-2 83-2 85-2

Content SCM MSB AC1 LSB SCM LSB CDC LSB LP MSB SCM MSB FST S E SCM MSB PIP LSB SCM LSB DC1-LSB AC1 MSB SCM MSB MaA MSB SCM MSB LP LSB SCM LSB FoC MSB Elec. SCM MSB SCM MSB AC1 LSB SCM LSB CDC LSB LP MSB SCM MSB Fst S E SCM MSB PIP LSB SCM LSB DC2 LSB AC1 MSB SCM MSB SCM MSB LP LSB SCM LSB SFID SCM MSB HKo LSB SCM LSB FSLAST

W-N 2-1 4-1 6-1 8-1 10-1 12-1 14-1 16-1 18-1 20-1 22-1 24-1 26-1 28-1 30-1 32-1 34-1 36-1 38-1 40-1 42-1 44-1 46-1 48-1 50-1 52-1 54-1 56-1 58-1 60-1 62-1 64-1 66-1 68-1 70-1 72-1 74-1 76-1 78-1 80-1 82-1 84-1 -

Content SCM LSB SCM MSB CDC MSB SCM MSB LP MSB SCM MSB FST S P SCM LSB PIP LSB DC1 MSB SCM MSB AC1 MSB SCM MSB MaA LSB SCM LSB LP LSB SCM MSB Elec. SCM MSB SCM LSB AC1 LSB CDC MSB SCM MSB LP MSB SCM MSB Fst S P SCM LSB PIP LSB DC2 MSB SCM MSB AC1 MSB SCM MSB SCM LSB LP LSB SCM MSB SCM MSB HKo LSB FS1 SF -

W-N 2-2 4-2 6-2 8-2 10-2 12-2 14-2 16-2 18-2 20-2 22-2 24-2 26-2 28-2 30-2 32-2 34-2 36-2 38-2 40-2 42-2 44-2 46-2 48-2 50-2 52-2 54-2 56-2 58-2 60-2 62-2 64-2 66-2 68-2 70-2 72-2 74-2 76-2 78-2 80-2 82-2 84-2 -

Content AC1 MSB SCM MSB CDC MSB SCM MSB LP LSB SCM LSB FST S P PIP MSB SCM MSB DC1 MSB SCM MSB AC1 LSB SCM MSB FoC MSB LP MSB SCM MSB SCM MSB Proton SCM LSB FoC LSB AC1 MSB SCM MSB CDC MSB SCM MSB LP LSB SCM LSB Fst S P PIP MSB SCM MSB DC2 MSB SCM MSB AC1 LSB SCM LSB FoC LSB LP MSB SCM MSB SCM MSB HKo MSB SCM MSB FS1 SF -

Table M.1: Telemetry format valid primo July 2003

148

Word 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92

Data Sync AC1 MSB CDC MSB LP MSB SSD E PIP MSB SSD DC1M AC1 MSB SCM X MSB SCM Y MSB Mag Y,Z SSD 45DE MSB Mag AC1 MSB CDC MSB LP MSB SSD E PIP MSB SSD DC2M AC1 MSB SCM X MSB SCM Y MSB HK FC MSB

Word 01 05 09 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93

Data Sync AC1 LSB CDC LSB LP LSB SSD P PIP LSB SSD DC1L AC1 LSB SCM X LSB SCM Y LSB Mag Y,Z SSD 45DP LSB Mag AC1 LSB CDC LSB LP LSB SSD P PIP LSB SSD DC2L AC1 LSB SCM X LSB SCM Y LSB SFID FC LSB

Word 02 06 10 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94

Data SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB SCM Z MSB

Word 03 07 11 15 19 23 27 31 35 39 43 47 51 55 59 63 67 71 75 79 83 87 91 95

Data SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB SCM Z LSB

Table M.2: Telemetry format valid ultimo November 2003

149

Appendix N

Filter circuits
The low-pass Butterworth Sallen-Key lter was designed by using Texas Instruments FilterPro software. Four lters, with 4, 6, 8 and 10 poles were simulated. The four simulations are shown in gures N.1 to N.4.

Figure N.1: FilterPro simulation of 4-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter

150

Figure N.2: FilterPro simulation of 6-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter

Figure N.3: FilterPro simulation of 8-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter

151

Figure N.4: FilterPro simulation of 10-pole Sallen-Key Butterworth LP lter

152

Appendix O

VHDL-code
Tilsaman sju sider med kode. Ikkje tatt med, forferdeleg arbeid med aa formattere i Latex.

153

154 Figure O.1: GFS-le of VHDL code

Appendix P

Prose
P.1 D Daniel drog
There were large unused surfaces on both sides of the main electronics PCB. Of sentimental reasons, the top silk layer included Jakob Sandes poem D Daniel drog [91]. Mr Sande was born in my home county Sunnfjord. His prose, and the paintings of Nikolai Astrup, gave this county a cultural identity. It felt natural that one of Sandes poems should be launched on this ight. Vesle Daniel skal ut i verda og gjer kista klar i denne stund, Over store hav mot sr gr ferda med San Salvador av Haugesund. Der kjem far hans, gamle Dave Myra, med ein lspung, messinggul og blank, og slr fast at her ligg mnadshyra like trygt og stdt som i ein bank. Men p kne ved leddiken ligg mor hans og legg plagg for plagg i kista ned, medan Knute-Sivert, yngste bror hans, str og tryglar om f bli med. Mjukt og varleg stryk ho dyffelstrya som skal pryde Daniel i land, og eit dobbelt kvitlapar for kya legg ho ned med kjrleg moderhand. Under lokket ruvar reisenista - reine julekosten er det plent, og p heidersplassen vst i kista lyser salmebok og testament. Men fr leddiken i lynd det glimter i eit lite ekkut skilderi, der med blomstret barneskrift ein skimtar: Di til dden trufaste Mari. Har den glade ltt med grt seg blanda? No er timen komen, Daniel! Havet kallar p deg, kom med handa, vesle Daniel, farvel, farvel! 155

P.2 If
A Naval ofcer should always be prepared to make sound and independent decisions under them most difcult and challenging of circumstances. The words of Rudyard Kipling give comfort and support when facing difculties [57]. This poem used to be part of the Standing Orders for cadets at the Norwegian Naval Academy. It was reproduced in the bottom silk layer of the main electronics PCB. If you can keep your head when all about you Are loosing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, dont deal in lies, Or being hated, dont give way to hating, And yet dont look too good, nor talk too wise. If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth youve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and buildem up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: Hold on! If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can ll the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything thats in it, And - which is more - youll be a man, my son!

156