The Equator-S spacecraft is scheduled to launch on Dec. 2, 1997, from Kourou, French Guyana. This is a joint mission between NASA, the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Munich, Germany, and the German Aerospace Agency (DLR). There are two launch opportunities, with the first starting at 5:36 - 6:01 p.m. EST. The second opportunity is from 7:42 - 8:39 p.m. EST. The spacecraft was developed and built by MPE. It will be launched on an Ariane IV launch vehicle.

This science mission is designed to complement and enhance the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Program by providing scientific measurements in the equatorial magnetosphere. "Detailed science objectives include studies of the dayside magnetopause where the transfer of mass, energy and momentum from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere take place, studies of the nightside particle acceleration and energization regions, studies of particle sources and loss mechanisms, and investigations of the Earth's radiation belt," said Dr. Michael Hesse, Equator-S project scientist at Goddard.

Equator-S will be launched into a geostationary transfer orbit, with subsequent injection into a near-equatorial orbit. The on-board instrumentation is specifically designed to study the highly time varying plasma structures and electromagnetic fields in the equatorial magnetosphere. Besides a magnetic field instrument, Equator-S also carries an innovative electric field instrument based on electron-beam sensing, developed by the MPE. This instrument is, for the first time, also capable of detecting spatial variations in the magnetic field. Equator-S also supports technology investigations designed to study the behavior of solar cells and other spacecraft components in high-radiation environments, and the first application of the global positioning system (GPS) beyond geostationary orbit.

Goddard managed the development of the Apogee kick motor; the 3D Plasma Instrument, built by the University of Washington; the Time-of-Flight component for the Ion Composition Instrument, provided by the University of New Hampshire (UNH); and the Gun Detector Units for the Electron Drift Instrument, also provided by UNH. Participating institutions include the Max-Planck Institute, the German Aerospace Agency, the European Space Agency, the University of Washington, the Institute for Space Research in Graz, Austria, and the University of New Hampshire.

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