CATS is the Conceptual And Tiny Spectrometer, a novel miniaturised plasma analyser being developed at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory with the support of Astrium. PoleCATS will fly this instrument on a sounding rocket into the polar lower ionosphere, using a CCD as a detector.
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Our objectives
- To demonstrate that CATS is a viable analyser and a CCD is a viable detector for the direct detection of electrons in a plasma instrument in the rocket environment
- To characterise the operational procedures required for the CATS/CCD setup
- To miniaturise the electronics with the aim of judging the viability of using such a setup in a CubeSat
- To obtain information about the energy distribution of electrons and ions in the low-altitude auroral ionosphere at the time of the flight
