Plasma Wave Subsystem (sometimes called Plasma Wave System), abbreviated PWS, is an instrument that is on board the ''

Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin '' Voyager 2'', ''Voy ...

'' and ''

Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. As a part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, ''Voyager 1'', on ...

'' unmanned probes of the

Voyager program The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two robotic interstellar probes, '' Voyager 1'' and '' Voyager 2''. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, to fly near ...

. The device is 16 channel step frequency receiver and a low-frequency waveform receiver that can measure

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary partic ...

density. The PWS uses the two long antenna in a V-shape on the spacecraft, which are also used by another instrument on the spacecraft. The instrument recorded data about the Solar System's gas giants, and about the outer reaches of the

Heliosphere The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interst ...

, and beyond. In the 2010s the PWS was used to play the "sounds of interstellar space" as the spacecraft can sample the local

interstellar medium In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstella ...

after they departed the Sun's heliosphere. The heliosphere is a region essentially under the influence of the Sun's solar wind, rather than the local interstellar environment, and is another way of understanding the Solar System in comparison to the objects

gravitationally bound The gravitational binding energy of a system is the minimum energy which must be added to it in order for the system to cease being in a gravitationally bound state. A gravitationally bound system has a lower (''i.e.'', more negative) gravitati ...

(e.g in orbit) around Earth's Sun. The PWS instrument plan was introduced in 1974 during the development of the Voyager program. It was hoped it would help increase understanding of wave particle interactions and record data on the

magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo ...

s of planets like Jupiter and Saturn. The instruments went on to record radio waves at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The PWS instrument is one of the instruments that is a part of the Voyager interstellar mission, and they have operated for several decades after their 1977 launch into the 2010s.

Specifications

List: *Mass: 1.4 kg (3.08 pounds) *Average electrical power consumption: 1.3

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s *Average data rate: 0.032

kbit/s In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mul ...

*Frequency range 10 Hz to 56 kHz *PWS/PRA Antenna: **Length of antenna: 10 meters (10.936 yards) **Number of antenna: 2 **Angle between antenna: 90 degrees

PWS and PRS

References

External links

PWS
{{Voyager program Voyager program Spacecraft instruments

Specifications

PWS and PRS

See also

References

External links