‘BUS’ Housing Electronics

The basic structure of the spacecraft is called the “bus,” which carries the various engineering subsystems and scientific instruments.

It is like a large ten-sided box. Each of the ten sides of the bus contains a compartment (a bay) that houses various electronic assemblies.

Bay 1, for example, contains the radio transmitters. The bay are numbered 1 to 10 (numbered clockwise as seen from Earth).

CRS (cosmic ray subsystem)

The CRS looks only for very energetic particles in plasma. The CRS makes no attempt to slow or capture the super-energetic particles.

They simply pass completely through the CRS. However, in passing through, the particles leave signs that they were there.

Goals:

• provide information on the energy content, origin, acceleration process, life history, and dynamics of cosmic rays in the galaxy
• contribute to an understanding of the nucleosynthesis of elements in cosmic ray sources.
• measure the three-dimensional streaming patterns of nuclei from Hydrogen through Iron and electrons over an extended range.