Shri Kanekal
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The Dynamical Radiation Belts: New results from the Van Allen Probes mission
The Van Allen Probes mission comprises of two identically instrumented spacecraft launched late August 2012. They carry a comprehensive suite of instruments that characterize charged particles, electric and magnetic fields, and plasma waves in the Earth's radiation belts. In particular, the ECT suite of instruments comprising of HOPE, MagEIS and REPT instruments measure electrons, protons and ions and their angular distributions over energies ranging from a few eV to several tens of MeV. Measurements from Van Allen Probes have made significant and paradigm-shifting contributions towards the understanding of the physics of charged particles in the Earth's radiation belts. I will describe the Van Allen Probes mission emphasizing the ECT instrument suite and highlight recent science results especially those pertaining to the dynamics of electron energization and loss in the outer radiation belt. I am also leading the CeREs CubeSat mission, which will complement the Van Allen probes, and which time permitting, I will briefly describe.