Cross-section side view of the The Compact Dual An atom that has become electrically charged by the gain or loss of one or more electrons. Experiment (CoDICE) instrument on the IMAP spacecraft measures the quantities and concentrations of interstellar pick-up ions that have passed through the The place where the solar wind slows down and begins to interact with the interstellar medium. The heliosheath has a few parts: the termination shock (the innermost part of the boundary), the heliopause (the outermost part of the boundary), and the part in between the inner and outer boundary. from outside the solar system. CoDICE also collects and characterizes A stream of charged particles, mostly protons and electrons, that escapes into the Sun's outer atmosphere at high speeds and streams out into the solar system in all directions. ions, including suprathermals. instrument showing simulations of particle trajectories through the An An instrument used in ion optics that employs an electric field to allow the passage of only those ions or electrons that have a given specific energy. It usually also focuses these particles (concentrates them) into a smaller area. is an instrument used in ion optics that employs an electric field to allow the passage of only those ions or electrons that have a given specific energy. It usually also focuses these particles (concentrates them) into a smaller area. and TOF/E subsystems. Blue trajectories show the path of the PUIs into the CoDICE Lo ESA (top) through the The A measure of the flow of events. of Flight system is a particle An instrument which is used to discover that something is present somewhere, or to measure how much of something there is. in an instrument which can discriminate between a lighter and a heavier elementary particle of same The product of an object's mass and velocity. by measuring the difference in time the particle passes through two scintillators or sensors, essentially measuring the particle velocity. and orange trajectories show the path of electrons through CoDICE Hi (bottom) through the ToF sensors.
CoDICE measures the distributions and The specific components or “ingredients” that make up a substance or type of matter. of interstellar pickup ions (PUIs), particles that make it through the heliosheath into the The bubble-like region surrounding the solar system inflated by the solar wind, shielding the solar system from interstellar radiation.. CoDICE also collects and characterizes solar wind ions including the A measure of an object's resistance to change in its motion (inertial mass); a measure of the strength of gravitational force an object can produce (gravitational 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 The local interstellar medium is the interstellar material surrounding our solar system found directly outside of the heliosphere.. 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 The interstellar material surrounding our solar system found directly outside of the heliosphere. (LISM) composition and flow A characteristic of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing the identity of the substance., 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).