Cluster post launch extension from April 2010

星团任务是欧空局的一个基石任务，其目标是在我们对地球磁层如何工作、地球对不断变化的太阳风条件的反应、内部不稳定性和电离层施加的影响的理解方面取得重大突破。群集于2000年启动，并于2001年2月开始运作。欧空局已将该任务至少延长至2012年底。Cluster提供了一种独特的能力来测量等离子体环境的重要特性。集群是太阳系战略的核心设施，解决了太阳系能量流和了解基本等离子体过程的主题。数字波处理器（DWP）仪器是将在四颗群集卫星上飞行的三个英国PI仪器之一。DWP是五个实验（DWP、STAFF、EFW、WHISPER和WBD）之一，它们共同组成了波浪实验联盟（WEC）。WEC由一套复杂的仪器组成，这些仪器共享航天器上的几种可用资源，如电力、数据速率以及吊杆和传感器的使用。WEC几乎占每艘航天器科学有效载荷的一半。其中一个WEC仪器（WBD）利用美国宇航局的深空网络（DSN）来收集大量数据。这项工作的时间表与欧空局地面站收集数据的时间表重叠。WEC的资源共享、DSN的使用和WEC数据的重要性使得仪器调度和数据处理（包括验证）变得复杂，对任务的成功至关重要。DWP PI和团队一直积极参与项目范围内的活动，以协调行动、数据处理和科学规划。职业健康中心的运作由职业健康中心运作小组统筹，小组由职业健康署署长担任主席。英国是这项任务的科学开发和数据处理的主要贡献者。PI研究所负责仪器操作，并向群集活动档案（CAA）提供最高分辨率的数据，以及支持的元数据和文档。DWP为WEC提供综合指挥、同步和机载数据处理。如果没有这台仪器，41台群集仪器中的20台将无法运行，包括任务中唯一由NASA主导的仪器WBD。英国通过DWP获得了WEC所有5个波浪实验的数据。波和电磁场结构是控制磁层和太阳风等离子体中所有物理变化过程的基础。DWP还包含英国粒子相关实验，该实验直接测量粒子波相互作用和动力学湍流。

The Cluster mission is an ESA cornerstone mission with the objective to make major breakthroughs in our understanding of how the Earth's magnetosphere works, the Earth's response to changing solar-wind conditions, internal instabilities and the influence exerted by the ionosphere. Cluster was launched in 2000 and began operations in February 2001. ESA has extended the mission at least to the end of 2012. Cluster provides a unique capability to measure important characteristics of the plasma environment. Cluster is a core facility for the delivery of the Solar System strategy addressing the themes of energy flow in the Solar System and understanding fundamental plasma processes. The Digital Wave Processor, DWP, instrument is one of the three UK PI instruments to be flown on the four Cluster satellites. DWP is one of the five experiments (DWP, STAFF, EFW, WHISPER, and WBD) that together comprise the Wave Experiment Consortium (WEC). The WEC was formed to allow the sharing of resources and skills available within the community The WEC comprises a complicated set of instruments that share several of the resources available on the spacecraft such as electrical power, data rate and the use of booms and sensors. The WEC forms almost half of the scientific payload on each of the spacecraft. One of the WEC instruments (WBD) makes use of the NASA DSN (Deep Space Network) to collect much of its data. This is done to a schedule that overlaps with the schedule for data collection by the ESA ground stations. The resource sharing of the WEC, use of DSN and importance of WEC data, make both the instrument scheduling and data handling (including validation) complicated and of importance to the success of the mission. The DWP PI and team have been active in project-wide activities to co-ordinate operations, data handling and science planning. Operations of the WEC are co-ordinated by the WEC Operation Group which is chaired by the DWP PI. The UK is the lead contributor to the scientific exploitation and data handling on this mission. PI institutes are responsible for the instrument operation and provision to the Cluster Active Archive (CAA) of the highest resolution data, with supporting metadata and documentation. The DWP provides integrated commanding, synchronisation and on-board data processing for the WEC. Without this instrument 20 of the 41 Cluster instruments would not operate, including the only NASA led instrument on the mission, WBD. The UK through the DWP gains access to data from all 5 wave experiments in the WEC. Waves and electromagnetic field structures are fundamental in controlling all processes of physical change in the magnetospheric and solar wind plasma. The DWP also contains the UK particle correlator experiment which directly measures particle wave interactions and kinetic turbulence.