Helium cosmic ray flux measurements at Mars

摘要

The helium energy spectrum in Martian orbit has been observed by the MARIE charged particle spectrometer aboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The orbital data were taken from March 13, 2002 to October 28, 2003, at which time a very intense Solar Particle Event caused a loss of communication between the instrument and the spacecraft. The silicon detector stack in MARIE is optimized for the detection of protons and helium in the energy range below 100MeV, which typically includes almost all of the flux during SPEs. This also makes MARIE an efficient detector for GCR helium in the energy range of 50-150MeV. We will present the first fully normalized flux results from MARIE, using helium ions in this energy range. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.