Energetic Particles, Plasma, and Ion Composition Spectrometer (EPPICS) Instrument Development

Energetic Particles, Plasma, and Ion Composition Spectrometer (EPPICS) is a scientific instrument intended to measure charged particles over a wide energy range: 10eV-10MeV for ions and 10eV-2MeV for electrons. EPPICS is designed for deep space missions, necessitating a high science-return to size, weight, and power when compared to state-of-the-art instruments.The design for a flight instrument was conceptualized and simulated to verify requirements. The flight instrument concept combines four instruments into one package: 1) a low energy ion electrostatic analyzer with post-acceleration and time-of-flight for mass and charge-state discrimination, 2) a low energy electron electrostatic analyzer, 3) an ion energetic particle detector with composition capability, and 4) an electron energetic particle detector. Each instrument mode has a 360° entrance aperture.A prototype instrument was designed, simulated, fabricated, and tested for performance. The prototype instrument focused on validating the design of the low energy ion detection mode. The measured properties of the low energy ion detector were an energy resolution of ≤4.9%, an angular resolution of ≤1°, and a k-factor of 11.6.