The Heavy Ion Counter was added to the Galileo spacecraft to monitor
the environment for energetic heavy ions with the potential to cause
single event upsets in the spacecraft electronics. In addition to
their engineering value, these observations are of course also of
scientific interest. In particular, heavy ion spectra at Jupiter can
be used to study composition, diffusion, and acceleration of these
particles. Other scientific goals include observations of energetic
particles associated with solar flare events, of cosmic rays, and of
anomalous cosmic rays.
Technical Documentation
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