
Cross-section side view of the The Compact Dual Ion Experiment (CoDICE) instrument on the IMAP spacecraft measures the quantities and concentrations of interstellar pick-up ions that have passed through the heliosheath from outside the solar system. CoDICE also collects and characterizes solar wind ions, including suprathermals. instrument showing simulations of particle trajectories through the ESA and TOF/E subsystems. Blue trajectories show the path of the PUIs into the CoDICE Lo ESA (top) through the ToF system and orange trajectories show the path of electrons through CoDICE Hi (bottom) through the ToF sensors.
CoDICE measures the distributions and composition of interstellar pickup ions (PUIs), particles that make it through the heliosheath into the heliosphere. CoDICE also collects and characterizes solar wind ions including the mass and composition of highly energized particles (called suprathermal) from the Sun. CoDICE combines an electrostatic analyzer (ESA) with a Time-Of-Flight versus Energy (TOF/E) subsystem to simultaneously measure the velocity, arrival direction, ionic charge state, and mass of specific species of ions in the LISM. CoDICE also has a path for higher energy particles to skip the ESA but still get measured by the common TOF/E system. These measurements are critical in determining the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM) composition and flow properties, the origin of the enigmatic suprathermal tails on the solar wind distributions and advance understanding of the acceleration of particles in the heliosphere.
CoDICE design and assembly is led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI).