Mission Name SAMPEX: The Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer SAMPEX Mission Patch LASP Instruments Principal Investigator: Glen Mason Destination approx. 590 km Earth Orbit Launch Date July 3rd, 1992 Launch Location Vandenberg Air Force Base Launch Vehicle Scout Mission Duration 3 years Mission Description/ LASP involvement   LASP Divisions Involved Science LASP Mission Web Page http://lasp.colorado.edu/sampex/sampex.html Official Mission Web Page http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/sampex/

SAMPEX Studies the energy,composition, and charge states of particles from supernova explosions in the distant reaches of the galaxy, from the heart of solar flares, and from the depths of nearby interstellar space. It also monitors closely the magnetospheric particle populations which plunge occasionally into the middle atmosphere of the Earth, thereby ionizing neutral gases and altering the atmospheric chemistry. A key part of SAMPEX is to use the magnetic field of the earth as an essential component of the measurement strategy. The Earth's field is used as a giant magnetic spectrometer to separate different energies and charge states of particles as SAMPEX executes its near polar orbit.

Over the next several years as the solar activity ramps up to its 11-year maximum, SAMPEX investigations will:

• survey the acceleration of relativistic electrons,measure their impact on the upper atmosphere, and determine their influence on atmospheric chemistry not only for solar minimum conditions but also for the much more complex solar active periods
• obtain samples of solar material from dozens of flares, compared with the handful observed during the declining phase of the solar cycle
• measure the anomalous component isotopic composition, trapping lifetime, and disappearance near solar maximum
• serve as a unique link in the chain of observatories put in place by NASA and its international partners to study space weather during the upcoming solar maximum.