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Romanian involvement in space magnetometry experiments dates back to 1976-1981, with the SG-R1, SG-R2, and SG-R3 magnetometers. The SG-R1 magnetometer - based on narrow range (+/-128 nT) tri-axial fluxgate sensors, produced at VNIIM, Leningrad - was built by Dr. Mircea Ciobanu and Eng. Marin Sampaleanu, IFIN, Bucharest, in collaboration with Dr. Alexandru Moldovan, IFT, Iassy, as well as S.S.Dolginov, L.N.Juzgov, and G.Vnucikov, IZMIRAN, Moscow. SG-R1 flew onboard the Interkosmos IK-18 satellite, in 1978. The SG-R2 magnetometer, with better resolution (1.5 nT), flew onboard the IK-20 satellite (1980), while SG-R3 - based on an improved fluxgate sensor, designed by Dr. Yu. V. Afanasiev, VNIIM, Leningrad - flew onboard the IK-21 satellite.
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Later on Dr. A. Moldovan has developed miniaturized fluxgate sensors, that allowed the design of a triaxial compact detector used for the SG-R7 and SG-R8 magnetometers, while Dr. Yu. V. Afanasiev designed a low noise ring fluxgate sensor, used to build the SG-R6 variometer. The technical characteristics of the three instruments are presented in the following table.
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| Magnetometer fluxgate type |
| SG-R6 |
| SG-R7 |
| SG-R8 |
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| Minisatellite name |
| MAGION-2 & 3 |
| MAGION-2 & 3 |
| MAGION-4 & 5 |
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| Launch of payload |
| 1989, 1991 |
| 1989, 1991 |
| 1995, 1996 |
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| Measuring ranges** [nT] |
| +/-156.4 |
| +/-50048; +/-6256 |
| +/-65536; +/-8192; +/-1024; +/-128 |
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| Temperature range |
| -400C..+700C |
| -400C..+700C |
| -400C..+700C |
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| Total Power [mW] |
| 360 |
| 570 |
| 930 |
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| Mass (sensors + electronic box) [g] |
| 215 |
| 545 |
| 870 |
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| Size (sensors) [mm] |
| 61x32x26 |
| 122x49x49 |
| 122x49x49 |
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| Size (electronic box) [mm] |
| 0.5x(190x137x18) |
| 1.5x(198x137x18) |
| 198x137x35 |
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The magnetometerts SG-R7 and SG-R8, as well as the variometer SG-R6, flew with the MAGION mini-satellites, built at IAP, Prague:
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| * SG-R6 and SG-R7 onboard: |
| - MAGION-2, Aktivnyi (IK-24) mission, launch in 1989. |
| - MAGION-3, Apex (IK-25) mission, launch in 1991. |
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| * SG-R8 onboard: |
| - MAGION-4, Interball mission, Tail probe, launch in 1995. |
| - MAGION-5, Interball mission, Auroral probe, launch in 1996. |
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The magnetic field data from the SG-R7 and SG-R8 magnetometers were initially used to help in finding the satellite attitude. The quality of the data allowed also to use them for science, for the investigation of the magnetic field fluctuations in the auroral region. A borader perspective over the magnetic field measurements by Romanian instruments and their scieentific use can be found in the pages below.
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Catalog of geomagnetic events recorded on-board the MAGION-2 satellite during 1990
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Investigation of field-aligned currents in double-oval configuration
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Small-scale structure of field aligned currents and discrete auroral arcs
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