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Science Payload

PROBA2 carries two solar instruments (SWAP and LYRA) and two instruments to study the space environment surrounding the spacecraft (DSLP and TPMU).

LYRA (Large Yield RAdiometer, formerly LYman alpha RAdiometer) is an ultraviolet irradiance radiometer that observes the Sun in four passbands, chosen for their relevance to solar physics, aeronomy and space weather. This instrument can also detect flares and analyze the atmospheric composition of the Earth.

SWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing) is a small EUV telescope that images the solar corona with a bandpass around 17.4 nm, corresponding to a temperature of 1 million degrees. SWAP continues the systematic CME watch program of EIT at an improved cadence and monitors events in the lower solar corona that might be relevant for space weather.

TPMU (Thermal Plasma Measurement Unit) objectives are to provide a measure of the electron temperature, floating potential, the ion temperature, concentration and composition. This data is used in studies of the space weather and for ionosphere modeling. TPMU uses radio-frequency (RF) method for the electron temperature measurement and retarding potential analyzer (RPA) for the ion measurements. More information on the TPMU can be found on the website of the Czech Space Office (CSO).

DSLP (Dual Segmented Langmuir Probe) will study the basic properties of magnetospheric background plasma (ions and electrons), as well as its density and temperature and their dynamic variations on a time scale up to 1s. Together with the plasma parameters, the potential of the spacecraft will be determined from the data acquired by the instrument. More information on the DSLP can be found on the website of the Czech Space Office (CSO).