The Cluster mission

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angeo-19-1197-2001.pdf (1.41 MB)

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https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/19/1197/2001/

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https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-19-1197-2001
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/30657

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UMBC Goddard Planetary Heliophysics Institute (GPHI)

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Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5317-988X

Date

2001-09-30

Type of Work

journal articles
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Program

Citation of Original Publication

Escoubet, C. P., Fehringer, M., and Goldstein, M.: Introduction The Cluster mission, Ann. Geophys., 19, 1197–1200, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-19-1197-2001, 2001.

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

The Cluster mission, ESA’s first cornerstone project, together with the SOHO mission, dating back to the first proposals in 1982, was finally launched in the summer of 2000. On 16 July and 9 August, respectively, two Russian Soyuz rockets blasted off from the Russian cosmodrome in Baikonour to deliver two Cluster spacecraft, each into their proper orbit. By the end of August 2000, the four Cluster satellites had reached their final tetrahedral constellation. The commissioning of 44 instruments, both individually and as an ensemble of complementary tools, was completed five months later to ensure the optimal use of their combined observational potential. On 1 February 2001, the mission was declared operational.